


Something To Talk About

by TehrBear



Series: What You Don't Know [2]
Category: Football RPF, Real Person Fiction, Sports RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gang World, Blood and Injury, Dark, M/M, Violence, my sincerest apologies to Carragher in advance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-03-09 05:37:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 49,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3238301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TehrBear/pseuds/TehrBear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Ain't it Fun.</p><p>Leo is back and that may or may not be a problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue, but not really

**Author's Note:**

> Rated mature for now but that might change because I don't really know where I'm going to go with this one.
> 
> This has not been beta'd so all mistakes are my own. If you find any grammar/spelling mistakes please do tell me.
> 
> I do not own the characters as they are real people but I own all other elements of the story which is completely fictional and not to be taken seriously at all.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a sneak peak into the future so y'all know what you're getting yourself into with this part of the series.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for a sequel!
> 
> I'll most likely end up putting warnings for some serious violence and death in this one.

"Big Salty Tears  
Is what I taste  
As I drive  
Past your house  
Tonight  
And all those break lights  
That are in front of me

...

I'm at the age where I realize  
The liquor store won't bring you back  
I must be gettin' old

...

I'm at the age where I realize  
Nothin' actually  
Just do what I'm supposed to do"

-  _Big Salty Tears_ , Sublime

A heavy fog had settled over the horizon. There was only the three of them, standing atop the hill, the sunset behind them, the cold biting at the exposed skin of their faces—chapped, bruised, bloody. There was a fourth person. But he was lying unconscious, slumped against the side of a car that’s engine was still running. There had been a fifth, but he was out of sight. He’d either run, or been shot in the crossfire and died before reaching the top of the hill.

“Please,” one of them groaned. He was the one nearest to the unconscious man. He was lying on his back, clutching a wound, the bullet of which that had most likely pierced his lung—if the way he was unable to gather his breathing was any indication. But he managed to croak out a few more words. “ _Please_ don’t do this.”

“I have to,” said the second man. He was holding a gun to the temple of the third. “I’m so sorry, I have to.”

“Kill me or don’t but make up your mind quickly,” said the third. He motioned to the wounded man with a jut of his chin. “He’s gonna die if you don’t get him to a hospital. You know he will, you’re the fucking doctor!”

The first man was wheezing badly. He tried to take a deep breath and coughed, choking on the blood that was accumulating in his throat. He turned to his side to let it leak out of his mouth so he could breathe again.

“I know you want me dead. But I also know that you can’t live with him dead. Whether you pull that trigger or not, don’t you dare let him die.”

“We can fix this,” the first man whimpered. His voice was barely a whisper. He tried wiping the blood running down his chin only for it to be replaced by more. “I know we can fix this, just _please_ —”

He was cut off by a bang. A clear indication of the decision the second man had made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you read the first one (which you probably should just to avoid confusion) let me know who you think is who in this little snippet.


	2. Why Bother Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo has a job for Fernando.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of the present timeline.

   Xabi knew Cesc was sorry. It’s not like Cesc could have predicted what he would have walked in on. But he could have at least knocked before walking in on it. Now Stevie had left, making some excuse that Xabi hadn’t bothered listening to, and Leo was making himself at home, as if he’d never left. No doubt he wanted Xabi to pretend the same. But Xabi didn’t want to.

“What are you doing here Leo?” Leo looked at him as if he’d been insulted. Cesc eyed them both warily and shifted in his spot beside Leo.

“Are you upset that I am?” Leo frowned. “I just wanted to drop by and see how everything is. I think I’ve been gone long enough to worry about what’s been going on.”

“And let me guess. You’re disappointed by what you’ve found.”

Leo’s expression was soft. He looked to be more worried about Xabi’s mental health than what he thought might have been going on in his absence. Xabi and Cesc were reminded of the Leo they always knew. The leader. They hoped it was that same leader that was in their presence right now. “Xabi… You couldn’t be more wrong. You handled Schweinsteiger so well. I’d never managed to get him off our backs but you did it so easily.”

“Only because his son got kidnapped.”

Leo chuckled. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. You doubt yourself too much. It was something I thought you'd gotten over but I guess not.”

Xabi thought he could hear an unsaid accusation. _That’s why you called Stevie back, isn’t it? To boost your fragile ego._ He didn’t know why he thought that Leo would think these things. What would be the point in trying to tear Xabi and Stevie apart now? Stevie didn’t pose a threat to the sanctity of the gang in any way anymore. And they weren’t even in a position to be broken apart.

“I know what you’re thinking. But I’m not trying to manipulate you. It’s not as fun as manipulating Fernando. Truth be told, there is really no point is there? Stevie wants the best for you, as do I.”

That much had to be true. Leo always wanted the best for them, for all of them. Which was why he’d always seen Stevie and Daniel and even Iker sometimes as a threat, because they were like a family. A seriously messed up family that killed and robbed a lot of people and manipulated each other with ‘good intentions’ but, nevertheless, a family. But then Leo left. So all that was left to wonder was why he was really back.

“Why are you here?”

“I believe I already answered that question,” Leo said, his voice hard, the warning in his tone evident. Xabi tried not to flinch. Cesc looked openly worried. Even more so when Leo wrapped an arm around him, narrowly avoiding his shoulder, and pulled him in close. “Didn’t I, Cesc?”

Cesc gulped. When Leo had come to him that morning, he’d expected a happy reunion, not tension ridden glares from across the room. He wished Stevie hadn’t left them here alone. He wished Xabi would just show a little respect to the man who made them who they were (as imperfect as they may be, at least they weren’t on the streets). He wished Leo hadn’t just come to pick at old wounds. He would rather be under the smoking hood of a car slick with dirty grease and an unhealthy smog settling on his lungs than sitting here with Leo, who he no longer had any reason to be loyal to, squeezing his elbow and Xabi, who he was supposed be loyal to, glaring a hole into the carpet.

“Leave him out of this,” Xabi replied gruffly. But he didn’t raise his eyes to meet Leo’s amused gaze.

“I’m not the bad guy here.”

“I—I know.” Xabi said, cursing at himself for stuttering. “But neither is Stevie.”

“Like I said, I understand that he has your best interests at heart.”

“Is that what you’re here for then? To make amends?”

Leo smiled, rubbing a hand across his clean shaven chin. “Not _exactly_. But that’s part of it.”

“Then the first person you should have sought out should have been Fernando.”

“I’ll get to him eventually. According to my sources, he’s a bit… _busy_ at the moment.”

\----

And Fernando was busy. Just not _busy_ . He wanted to be _busy_ , especially since he had thought he would have the entire day to spend with Daniel, but instead he was just busy because Stevie showed up at Dan’s door with a sour expression and didn’t look like he intended to leave. Dan greeted Stevie happily, ignoring both his and Fernando’s negativity.

“Stevie… _why are you here?_ ” Fernando hissed when Daniel went to make coffee.

“Why didn’t you tell me Leo was still around?” Stevie accused.

“What?!” The sound came from both Fernando and Dan. The latter poked his head through the doorway and regarded the other two with curiosity.

“Fernando,” he started slowly. “Is that true? Is Leo still around?”

“No, of course not! I haven’t heard from him in ages.”

“Well, he showed up with Cesc when I was with Xabi.” Stevie crossed his arms over his chest and Dan disappeared into the kitchen again.

“That’s ridiculous. You’re imagining things.”

”Yeah, because that’s something that my imagination indulges in often.” Fernando couldn’t comprehend Stevie’s allegations. Leo? Back? How? And that also right after he’d managed to admit his feelings to Dan. There wasn’t a worse time.

“So he’s really… it was actually him? He’s really back?”

“And just as self-entitled as before he left.”

Fernando couldn’t be too sure. He had to come back for a reason. “That probably means I should go there. But Dan…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll _take care_ of your boy toy.”

“Don’t touch my—”

Stevie handed him his jacket and pushed him towards the door. “Go on now. You don’t want to miss any of the fun, do you? It’s probably getting super interesting. A full on orgy, I’m sure.”

Stevie’s voice turned bitter at the end. “Stevie, what are you—”

“Just go and sort out what needs to be sorted.” And with that, Fernando was out the door, wondering what the hell had just happened.

Dan came back into the room holding an unopened packet of coffee filters. “Was that the door?”

“Yeah, Fer had to leave.”

“Oh well. I hope that Leo isn’t back just to stir up trouble.” Dan sighed. “I don’t even think he does it on purpose. I think trouble just follows him around.”

“ _I_ think he does it on purpose.”

“I think he has all the right intentions, he just goes about them the wrong way.” Stevie grumbled and Dan punched him lightly on the arm, laughing softly. “Don’t fret. Nothing Leo could ever say will make Xabi leave you.”

“Xabi isn’t even mine right now!” Stevie followed Dan back into the kitchen.

“He was always yours. Just like Fernando was always mine. Why do you think I bothered sticking around so long?” The water in the coffee maker wasn’t yet hot enough to brew.

“You’re not afraid that Leo is going to say something to change his mind again? It only took a few words to plant doubt the first time around.”

“Not really. At least not as much I would have been this morning. We had a conversation about feelings earlier, so I think things are okay.”

“Feelings, huh? Well Xabi gave me a hand job, I think that works the same way.”

Dan laughed. “It’s better than nothing at the very least.”

Dan turned around to finish up the coffee. Stevie’s phone buzzed with a text and he peeked at it for a second. It was from Fernando.

_Don’t fucking touch my boy toy!!!!! I’ll strangle you in your sleep and I’ll tell Xabi the real reason for you two meeting… that should be fun._

Stevie grimaced.

_I’ll rip out your tongue if say a fucking word._

Then he smiled down at his phone and sent another text before putting it away.

_By the way, does Danny top or bottom? It’s kind of important._

Stevie ignored the persistent buzzing after that. Dan was taken by surprise when Stevie’s arm came around him to press his back against Stevie’s chest. Stevie dipped his head and nipped harshly at Dan’s neck.

“Stevie, what the hell?” Stevie pulled back and grinned. “That’s gonna leave a mark, asshole!”

“Good!” Stevie said laughing. “Make sure Fernando sees it the next time you two meet.”

“You didn’t have to bite me just to piss him off.”

\----

Leo gave Xabi a heartwarming hug before he left and wished him luck in patching things up with Stevie. He didn’t apologize for breaking them up in the first place but that was expected. Still, Xabi could never forget what the man had done for him. So he asked the question one more time.

“Leo, what are you _really_ doing here?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Leo smiled at him and winked before turning away and heading to the door. “I’ll keep in touch.”

Cesc threw an apologetic look towards his boss before following his ex-boss out the door. Xabi sighed. That could have been a lot worse. Knowing Leo’s real intentions would put him at ease, but that’s not how their world worked. He tried calling Stevie once, twice, thrice—but kept getting voicemail. He didn’t leave a message but sent a text asking Stevie to call him.

Fernando arrived soon after.

“Is he still here?”

“Nope.”

“Well… do you know where he is?”

“Probably with Cesc.”

“Of course,” Fernando mumbled to himself. _Always with Cesc._ “What did he say?”

“Apologized.”

“ _Really?_ ”

“Well, somewhat.”

“Oh.” Fernando frowned. “That makes sense, I guess.”

“He said he was going to talk to you, but that you were busy or something.”

“I was busy.” _Or at least I would have been._ “But then Stevie showed up and—”

“You saw Stevie?”

“Yeah and he was really angry about Leo—”

“Shit!” Xabi sent out another text telling Stevie to _please_ call him. “He knows I didn’t know it would happen right?”

“I don’t think he blames you, Xabi. Have you forgiven him for leaving you?”

“Of course not!”

“But you’re worried that he’s angry at you for something you didn’t do.” Fernando grinned at Xabi’s denial.

“He can be as angry as he wants at whoever he wants. I don’t care.”

“Right which is why you gave him a hand job, right? Because you don’t care.”

“How the hell—?”

“Danny texted me.”

“How the hell does he know?”

“Stevie probably told him.”

“Fucking hell!” Xabi sent another text to Stevie, this time telling him to call Xabi immediately otherwise Xabi would make his death look like an embarrassing accident.

“I’m gonna go find Leo.” _Hopefully he’s not too busy with Cesc._

Xabi got a text. It wasn’t from Stevie. “Wait.”

“What?”

“I need you to do a job.”

“Right now?” Fernando whined. Xabi swore he was more a kid than anything else. And Xabi needed him to be anything else when he had a job for him.

“Well I can’t very well do it when I can barely walk can I?” Xabi demanded. “Besides, I’m not the one being asked to do it. I’ll forward you the details in Leo’s text. You do the job, then you can do what you want.”

“Leo sent you a job?”

“Leo sent me a job _for you_.”

\----

When they reached Cesc’s apartment, Cesc was still unsure about his initial reaction to Leo’s return. Visiting Xabi hadn’t been as much of a reunion as he’d expected to be but things were civil enough. Just not like before.

Still, he was relieved to see Leo again. There had been minimal goodbyes when he had left.

“How much did you miss me?” Leo asked, pulling Cesc flush against him. Cesc was bigger, but he felt small. Not in a bad way either. More like Leo would protect him, as he always had. _Okay so maybe things aren’t that different after all_.

“So much,” Cesc said quietly. Leo’s fingers gripped his hips tightly. “Too much.”

“Show me,” Leo said. “Show me how much you missed me. Otherwise I’ll think you’re lying.”

So Cesc kissed him. Hard and bruising. Leo’s hands exploring places that Cesc hadn’t remembered were so sensitive till Leo touched them. He wondered if he was lying to himself, had he really missed Leo? Or had he just missed this? Because _this_ was a lot more satisfying than having breakfast with Leo, or tagging along with him to talk to Xabi. Cesc remembered the way Iker’s hand had rested on his cheek the day before and all of a sudden he didn’t care about what he missed, as long as he could forget that he missed something he had never really had. Iker’s heart.

So he dragged Leo to the bedroom.

“Eager are we?” Leo laughed, breaking the kiss. “We have plenty of time, you know. And you’re hurt. Maybe we should slow down just a bit.”

“I don’t want to.” Cesc whined. “Besides, don’t you wanna know how much I missed you? Cause I wanna know how much you missed me.”

“Oh I’ll show you how much I missed you.” Leo said, pushing him down onto the bed, carefully.

“Just be gentle.”

“I thought you hate it when I’m gentle.”

“Yeah well, like you said I’m hurt.” Cesc pouted. “Which means I’m fragile.”

“In more than one way.”

\----

_Pass this along to Torres._

_Fábio Coentrão [pic attached]_

_He’s hiding out at a squat house on Fifth and Elm. Get rid of him and anyone else that comes in your way. Leave no witness._

_Then come see me._

The first thing Fernando did was call Daniel. “What do you say to ditching Gerrard’s ass and helping me with a job?”

“You had me at ‘ditching Gerrard’s ass’,” Dan laughed. “Actually you had me at ‘what do you say’.”

It was Fernando’s turn to laugh. And blush. He was glad Dan couldn’t see him through the phone. “I bet I did.”

“I didn’t mean to say that out loud but I… kinda did.”

“Yeah, and it makes me want to vomit,” said Stevie’s muffled voice in the background. “Don’t you dare ditch me! I’m lonely and depressed.”

“Tell him to check his phone,” Fernando said. “I’m pretty sure Xabi’s been calling and texting him.”

Dan relayed the message to Stevie and Fernando heard a string of profanities at the other end followed by ‘gotta go’ and ‘don’t forget to cover up that love bite, you don’t want pretty boy to know about our secret affair do you?’

“Love...bite? Daniel what love bite?!”

“He’s only joking Nando. Tell me where you are and I’ll be there.”

Fernando told Dan to meet him a couple of blocks away from the squat house. He didn’t really want to carry out a job in broad daylight but there were less likely to be witnesses since most of the ‘residents’ of the house were only there to avoid the harsh weather brought on by night or storms passing through. So he made sure a silencer was screwed on tightly to the barrel of his gun before hid it in his jacket and went to wait at the agreed spot Dan would meet him at. The silencer thankfully didn’t make his jacket look too bulky and he looked inconspicuous leaning against the glass window of a convenience store, pretending to be interested in something on his phone.

Dan approached him quietly. Fernando knew that Dan would try to scare him, and he didn’t fake being surprised when he felt Dan’s fingers poke the side of his hips. Mostly because he knew Dan would frown and boy did Dan look cute when he frowned. Maybe he shouldn’t have called Daniel to help him. The pout on his boy(can he even call him this?)friend’s face wasn’t really putting him in the killing mood.

“What’s the job?” Dan asked pulling Fernando into a nearby alley. Fernando got out his phone and handed to Dan to look at Leo’s text while he kept an eye on the people passing by the mouth of the alley. No one paid them any attention. “I know him.”

“Yeah, so do I. He works for Iker.” Fernando took his phone back.

“Iker…?”

“This guy who runs an auto shop that Cesc has been crushing on for like five years,” Fernando explained.

“Real articulate.”

Fernando beams at him. “Thanks, babe.”

“Last I heard he was doing pretty clean business.”

“I’d say that getting a job fixing up cars is pretty clean but Leo wouldn’t want him dead for no reason.”

“I wonder what he could have done to piss Leo off.”

“I don’t.” Dan gave him a weird look. “It’s not my job to wonder why I’m doing something. I’m just supposed to do it.”

“Why are you even taking orders from Leo if he’s not your boss anymore? You don’t technically have to do what he says anymore.”

“Danny, that’s not what it’s about. He—He’s, ugh, it doesn’t matter! Besides Xabi is the one who passed it along which makes it an order from him.”

“What is it about?”

“I said it doesn’t matter, didn’t I?”

“What is it about, Fernando?”

“I—I don’t know. I worked for him for so long, Danny.” _I owe him my life._

“I know the feeling. It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to Carragher either.”

“Then why’d you do it?”

“For you. Because I knew as long as I was running with him, you’d never get all that doubt out of your head.” Fernando was speechless. His jaw dropped, this was news to him. Daniel grinned at the look on Fernando’s face before kissing it. “Relax, I love what I do now even more. Helping displaced kids find homes so they don’t end up like us or the people we send six feet under is more than what I could ever ask for.”

“And here I am, still sending people six feet under.”

“And here I am helping you do it.” Dan kissed him again. “Besides, you’ve helped people get away from this life too. Isn’t your friend Cristiano proof of that?”

Fernando shook his head. “We seem to keep dragging him into our messes even now. And you’re technically out as well, but the first thing I did when I got a new job was to call you. Even Cesc has a real job, he could leave this life if he wanted to too, but it doesn’t let him. Or more like _we_ don’t let him.”

“Okay but does Cesc really want to leave?”

“No. But like I said, we do the job and don’t wonder about it. Who knows how many of these people, our targets, are innocent.”

“Probably most of them. But we’ve always known that.”

Fernando turned his head towards the mouth of the alley again, so he wouldn’t be forced to look Dan in the eyes. “Let’s go. Before Coentrão smells something fishy and decides to relocate. I doubt Leo would be very happy if he got away.”

\----

They made their way to the squat house through back streets. If someone saw them and suspected them of squatting, the police would be called right away. They entered through a doorway propped open by a sleeping woman. Stepping over her and making silent progress, they pulled out their weapons, Dan’s solely for backup. Fernando was right about the squat house being mostly empty and in this instance he hated being right. Because they checked the faces of every passed out person they could find and none of them were Fábio.

“What if we're too late?” Fernando thought out loud.

“I doubt it,” Dan replied. “Think this place has a basement? That’s where I’d hide if someone like Leo wanted me dead. Well, actually I’d probably get plastic surgery and change my name and then move across the world but if I was only able to hide in a squat house I’d choose the basement.”

“Think he has back up?”

“Possibly.”

The building did have a basement. And there were evidences of sounds indicating more than one person.

“Okay stay behind me.” Fernando took one step down the stairs and turned back to face Dan for a second, surprised to find him glaring back at Fernando with his gun limp at his side.

“Stay behind you?” He demanded. “What do I look like to you?”

“Keep your voice down,” Fernando hissed. Dan didn’t continue his hissy fit. They crept down the stairs, thanking the stars that the boards under their feet didn’t creak. Fábio was sitting on the floor, propped against the wall with someone standing in front of him. He was very obviously injured and very obviously scared of the man he was lying defenseless in front of. Neither of them noticed Fernando and Daniel peering from around the landing.

“Where is he?” The man asked. The voice sounded distantly familiar to Fernando. It must have been someone from a rival gang who got to Coentrão before they did.

“I don’t know, I swear I don’t.” The man delivered a kick to Fábio’s gut. “I’m telling the truth! I’ve been avoiding him. Ever since I saw him at the shop I’ve been avoiding him. He wants me dead.”

“Well then you’re of no use to me anymore are you?” A swift movement of the hand to remove his gun from his belt and a millisecond or two to cock it, point and pull the trigger, caused Fernando and Dan to jump back and leave as quickly as they could. They knew they were making noise, and they could hear following footsteps. Whoever they saw killing _their_ target was going to come after them too. So they did what they’d been doing all their lives—except usually it involved police sirens and flashing lights—they ran. They flew out of the squat house and onto the streets they knew well, choosing the main road this time, so they could lose the man in the crowd. They split up at an intersection, Dan going straight and Fernando turning a corner to round the block. They’d meet at the opposite corner of whatever intersection was three blocks away, as predetermined. Back up plans were important. Leo had taught him that.

After regrouping, they called it quits. They both had to leave the area as soon as possible and the same way they had come to meet each other—alone. Fernando didn’t let Dan go without a kiss, and Dan didn’t let Fernando go without a promise to tell him whatever he found out.

He headed towards Cesc’s place, which was unfortunately a long way from where he was, but he would pass Iker’s shop on the way, so he could drop in and say hi. When he did, Iker took a nervous look around before pulling him into his office and shutting the door.

“How’s Cesc doing?”

“I think he’s a little under the weather but—”

“Drop the act,” Iker said with a glare. “I know he got shot.”

“Oh… you do?”

“Yeah,” Iker shook his head. “I can’t believe he had to pay a price like that for doing a good deed.”

“A good deed, huh?”

“Yeah, he tried to stop a mugging, right?”

“Riiight.” _Good on Cesc for taking advantage of a shitty situation._

“So he’s okay?” Worry clouded Iker’s expression.

“Yeah he’s better… I guess.” Fernando frowned. “He’s most probably got someone _looking after_ him, you know”

“Not really…”

“Forget it then.”

“Do you mean like God or…”

“No just a friend. He’s being _taken care of_ by a friend.”

“Fernando are you, like, on something?”

“No I’m not on something!”

“Then why do you talking like that? Putting extra emphasis on random words.”

“Just forget it Iker! You’re hopeless.”

“Wha—?” The door opened and the two men turned to face it.

“Hey, I was just—um, hi.” It was the doctor. Mr. Mystery Guy. The journal person. _The journal._ Fernando remembered that he’d left his things at Daniels when Stevie had pushed him out the door.

“Hey! Fernando, this is Sergio. Sergio, Fernando. I’ve told you about him, right?”

“Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you.” Sergio offered a wide smile and a hand. Fernando accepted both with equal fake enthusiasm and made sure to grip the hand tight when he shook it.

“Nice to meet you too.” Fernando pulled away from the handshake and turned to Iker. “Listen, I gotta go.”

Iker frowned. “You literally just got here.”

“I have to check up on Cesc and… stuff.”

“I thought you said Cesc was with a friend.”

“Yeah well his friend can’t _take care_ of him all day, can he?”

“Uh…”

“Bye Iker!”

\----

Fernando was wrong. Like, extremely wrong. He’d thought that between Leo and Cesc leaving Xabi’s place, and him getting the job done (which he hadn’t really, but still), Leo and Cesc would have finished whatever catching up they wanted to do. And he was _so_ wrong.

Because he could hear them from the hallway of Cesc's apartment building.

So he turned around and left.

Cursing himself for letting Stevie in in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may seem like I'm out to get Fábio but I swear I'm not. I picked out who was gonna die at random and he was the unlucky one.
> 
> Maybe I'll write something with him in which he doesn't die as a consolation.
> 
> That being said, I just want to remind y'all that this is fiction. I feel like people might take it seriously since it's RPF but all of this is completely made up and I would not wish death on any of these players nor do I condone violence in any way.


	3. The Launch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First part of the past timeline.
> 
> Why Fernando and Xabi owe Leo their lives - Part One - The Launch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter and every second chapter after it will be set in the past.
> 
> The whole story of why Fernando and Xabi were loyal to Leo ended up being around 15k words (and still going, oops), so I split it up.
> 
> This is part 1 :)

Fernando and Stevie walked side by side, a few paces behind Carragher. They’d been walking like this for almost ten minutes now, but at the next intersection they split up, Fernando crossed the road and went down east side of a street, Stevie went down the west side, and Carra kept heading north. All three were meeting someone. Stevie and Fernando had to assimilate new recruits, and Carra had to harbour a deal. Neither was looking forward to their meetings.

Fernando hoped his recruit wasn’t a handful, and Stevie hoped his recruit was hot and queer. Carra had a headache and just hoped it would go away.

Fernando’s recruit was leaning against the fence of a shabby looking house and didn’t look up when he approached.

“It helps to be attentive to your surroundings.” The recruit didn’t move.

“Who said I wasn’t?” _Ugh_ , Fernando thought. _Please don’t be a smart ass_. The recruit raised his head and smirked, offering his hand for a shake. “Xabi.”

Fernando gripped the hand firmly but didn’t return the smile. _I’m too fucking tired for this shit_. “I know. I’m Fernando.”

“So I have to prove myself right?” Xabi asked, once both men withdrew their hands. “What do I have to do? Shoot the first person I see walking down the street?”

“Well the first thing you should do is keep your fucking voice down,” Fernando snapped, despite knowing that there was no one else around them. The street was particularly empty. “You start with small shit, and then if you don’t fuck anything up, you’ll get a bigger test. Pass that and you’re in for good.”

“And I get my money?”

“And you get your money.” Fernando knew there was no other reason to get involved with Carra, other than the money. Carra doled out more than most gangs could afford to.

“Great,” Xabi said. “When do I start?”

Fernando got out his phone. “When the boss—”

“The sooner I start, the sooner I get out of your hair.” Fernando regarded him with a frown. A curious frown. Not many people interrupted him like that. Not in a while. Only Carra and sometimes Stevie bothered bossing him around but he had such an apathetic air to him at times—especially recently—most people didn’t try to mess with him at all. But the man was right. The second Xabi either proved himself, or fucked up, Fernando didn’t have to watch him anymore. So he tilted his head towards the way he came, indicating Xabi should follow him.

They made their way to a small hole-in-the-wall bar. Carra had had some beef with one of the bartenders a while back. Fernando told Xabi what he had to do. They sat at opposite ends of the bar and kept their eyes on the bartender. As soon as he was taking off his apron and clocking out, Xabi paid and got up. Fernando followed around five minutes later into the alley next to the bar, where the back door let out. He saw an indistinct trail of tiny red droplets leading deep into the maze of alley ways—a trail that he wouldn’t have noticed had he not been looking for it.

He found Xabi with the bartender at his feet, one of his hands curled around the bleeding man’s collar, and the other hand recoiled and ready to strike. He put his whole weight into the punch, his fist colliding with the bartender’s battered face with a sickening thud. Fernando winced. If anyone thought he was apathetic during a job, they obviously hadn’t met someone like Xabi.

Xabi was quiet, save for the barely audible grunting every time he delivered another kick or a punch or grabbed the bartender by his hair to throw him against the wall. Most people Fernando knew would taunt the bartender, make it known that they were putting all their frustration and anger into the beating they were giving. But Xabi did not. He kept a straight face even as the bartender cried and begged for mercy.

“Please! I—I’ll do anything! I swear I’ll do whatever you ask! Just _please_ stop!” A kick to the diaphragm forced all the air out of the bartender’s lungs, stopping the pleading.

Fernando put a hand on Xabi’s shoulder. The latter nodded and stepped back. What was visible of the bartenders skin was coloured brilliantly by a contrast of a striking red—dripping from his nose, onto his lips then down his chin and neck, and running in streaks from where the blows had broken the skin—and the blue and black bruises, swelling to the point where, soon, he wouldn’t be able to see through his battered eyes or even breathe through his broken nose. Fernando wrapped his fingers around the bartender’s throat, pulled him to his feet and pinned him against the wall that Xabi had smashed his face against more than a couple of times. The bartender gazed at him through his swollen eyelids and paled, realizing why this was happening to him. Still, the look he was giving Fernando was almost sleepy, as if he was on the verge of passing out. So Fernando tried to make his part of the job quick.

“Sucks, doesn’t it?” Fernando teased. He raised the hand that wasn’t latched to the man’s neck and pressed fingers against his ribs, and then lower down his abdomen, and everywhere else he had seen Xabi abuse. The man writhed in pain, emitting pathetic sounds, as Fernando spoke to him. “Remember today the next time you try and say no to Jamie Carragher.”

The bartender nodded as much as he could manage, which wasn’t much at all.

Fernando let go of his throat and he crumpled to the ground. “He’ll keep in touch. It’ll be in your best interest to do what he says.”

The bartender looked up at him and nodded again, absolutely terrified. Fernando began walking in the opposite direction from the one they came, and Xabi followed once again.

“Was that it?” He asked. “Scrawny bastard didn’t even put up fight. Just started shaking and crying. It was a bit of a turn off really.”

Fernando let out an unimpressed huff. “Does beating people to a pulp usually turn you on?”

“Not really. But it’s more likely to if they didn’t fucking cry.” Fernando stopped walking. Xabi almost crashed into him, but caught himself in time. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Fernando squinted at a group of people that were gathered near a fence not too far from them. There was a man and the rest of them were teens and some preteens. Practically kids, all of them. Some of them looked their way but averted their eyes quickly when they saw Fernando was looking at them. The man in the group was pointedly ignoring it all. “Meet me same time, same place, tomorrow. We’ll go from there.”

He didn’t turn towards Xabi at all and Xabi did not say goodbye as he left.

Fernando approached the group.

“What are you, ten?” The man was talking to a particularly short boy. “Come back when you’re at least fourteen, we don’t take babies.”

“I'm not a baby!” Fernando grimaced at the sound of the kid’s voice—he really did sound like he was ten.

“Sorry kid, not happening. Go home, apologize to your parents for whatever shit you pulled before running away. And just because that girl you pretend not to have a crush on because of cooties hangs out with that jock kid Jason instead of you, doesn’t mean you should try to join a gang.” The man patted the boy on the head and the rest of the boys began talking animatedly, all at the same time.

The throng of the boys eventually pushed the ten year old to the very outside and he grumbled and kicked at the ground, only noticing Fernando’s looming figure when he crashed into one of Fernando’s legs. He looked up with an annoyed look and pushed Fernando aside, with the strength of a fly. But Fernando stumbled slightly anyways, because he wasn’t expecting it at all.

“Watch where you’re going, sasquatch.” Fernando frowned but the kid took no notice as he sauntered away with his head hung in disappointment.

“I thought I told all of you ‘no’ last week. I’m not gonna change my mind just ‘cause you’re a week older.”

“But we’re older than fourteen!” One of the boys cried.

“Yeah, and inexperienced and with your whole fucking lives ahead of you. Go back to school. Get yourselves jobs. Don’t mess things up for yourself.” The boys protested loudly and Fernando intervened.

“Alright that’s enough! Get out of here, all of you.” The boys couldn’t scatter quickly enough.

The man finally acknowledged him. “Thanks a lot. Now they’re just gonna go find some other gang and get themselves killed, or worse.”

“Well they didn’t want to listen to your ‘stay in school, kids’ rant so I just saved you the disappointment.” The man didn’t answer him. He only crossed his arms and turned his head in defiance to instead look through the fence at absolutely nothing. So Fernando tried something else. “Danny? What’s worse than getting killed?”

Daniel looked at him from the corner of his eye. “Ending up like us, the bitches of the guild, doing all the dirty work, getting stuck with the rep of all the dirty work. Or as the whores.”

“Not everyone hates being the whore,” Fernando pointed out.

“You wouldn’t.” Daniel grinned. Fernando glared. And blushed. “But the people picked to be the whores aren’t exactly the willing ones.”

Fernando could burn a hole into Dan’s face if he glared any harder. Daniel laughed wholeheartedly.

“Relax, I’m just teasing.”

“Fuck off.” Fernando turned on his heel, still blushing.

“Hey!” Daniel caught him by the elbow and turned him around. “I’m not calling you a whore, I promise.”

“I don’t care what you call me Daniel.”

“Yeah you do. You wouldn’t be so red if you didn’t.”

Fernando avoided Dan’s gaze. “I have to go.”

“You just got here.”

“I have things to do Danny. Trying to have a _normal_ conversation with you for once was a mistake.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” Dan tried to give him a sincere smile.

“I have to go,” Fernando repeated. But he didn’t go. He didn’t even try to remove his elbow from Dan’s grip.

“Just hear me out before you do.”

Fernando nodded.

“I don’t—I couldn’t care less that you sleep with other people. I don’t care how many people that even is—”

“I’m gonna stop you right there.”

“No you’re fucking not.” Dan backed him up against the fence and put his hands on either side of Fernando’s head. “Not this time.”

Fernando gazed into his eyes with a blank expression. No way was he going to let Dan know how he was feeling in that moment.

“I like you, okay? And you can sleep with whoever the fuck you want, but I’m not gonna change my fucking mind.”

“It’s only one,” Fernando said, extremely affected by how close Daniel was standing.

“One?”

“There’s only one person.”

“Oh,” Daniel said, looking slightly relieved. “Are you two like... together or...?”

“No!” Fernando replied a little too quickly. “I mean, uh, not really. We’re just friends.”

“Just friends, huh?” Daniel looked even more relieved.

“Yeah, just, uh, friends.” Fernando hated how flustered he was.

“Good,” Daniel said. “Great.”

They stood like that, with their eyes boring into each other’s, for only a second before both moved forward and their lips met halfway. They forgot their surroundings completely as they melted into the taste of the others mouth. Fernando assumed Daniel’s tongue was soaked in ambrosia with how drunk it was making him feel as it licked his lips and pushed into his mouth.

They had to pull away when they heard the disapproving comments of a couple of passersby. Daniel grinned at him and tried to pry his body away but Fernando held onto his shirt and mouthed slightly at his neck.

“Damn...we’re in public, Nando.” Fernando pushed his hips against Dan’s. “Have some decency, _please_.”

Fernando let him go, giving him a smile that he didn’t show too many people lately.

Daniel wiped at the wet kisses Fernando gave him. “I thought you had to go.”

“I do.”

“Then go.” Dan gave Fernando a slow, but relatively innocent kiss. “But you better fucking call me.”

Before they parted ways, Fernando asked Daniel something that had been at the back of his mind since watching him interact with the kids.

“I thought Carra wanted you to recruit people that weren’t legal yet. Why were you turning them away?”

Dan hung his head a bit. “He wants me to recruit collateral damage. I’m not gonna be the one handing him fucking children to send out and do his bidding. They’ll be ruining their lives, just like we did.”

Fernando nodded solemnly, and told Daniel he’d call soon.

\----

“Owww!”

“What now?” Stevie asked.

“That fucking hurts! Try something else, otherwise just stop.”

Stevie grunted in annoyance, but did as he was told and shifted to thrusting into Fernando at a different angle. “How’s that?”

“Fuck...much,” Fernando groaned and buried his face into the crook of his elbow as Stevie practically milked his prostate, “much better.”

Soon he could barely hold himself up on the countertop of Stevie’s kitchen, and the only thing keeping him in a relatively standing position was the fact that he was impaled on Stevie’s cock. When a hand came around to stroke his own leaking cock, his arms collapsed and Stevie had to grip his hips tighter to keep him from sliding off the counter.

“You’re so,” Stevie thrusted hard and gave Fernando’s length a considerable tug, making him cum into Stevie’s hand and all over the side of Stevie’s kitchen island, which had him thoroughly spent for good measure, “lazy.”

Fernando only clenched around Stevie in response, making him groan loudly as he came too.

“I always have to do all the work,” he continued complaining. And even though it wasn’t, he said: “And that was a shitty orgasm.”

“Whatever,” Fernando said, barely attempting to stand on his shaking legs when Stevie pulled out and stopped holding him up. “I’m the one who has to deal with how long it takes you actually make me feel good.”

“Yeah well you don’t last very long once I do.” Fernando was still bent over the counter so Stevie smacked him in the middle of his ass, making him groan at the impact it made on his abused hole. “Come on.”

Stevie helped Fernando to his couch. Both sat down, still completely nude, and Fernando peeled the condom off of Stevie’s half hard member and took the length into one of his hands, stroking it in absolutely no hurry.

“How was your recruit?” Stevie asked, spreading his legs and letting his head lay back, welcoming the familiar heat pooling in his abdomen.

“Absolute beast. Remember that bartender? The one who tried to get away with saying no to Carra?” Stevie hissed when Fernando traced his thumb across the head and nodded. “Let’s just say that bartender isn’t going to be saying no to anyone anytime soon.”

“Nice.” Stevie was as hard as he could get now, but Fernando was still taking his time. He shifted on the couch, half-lying down with his face hovering over Stevie’s lap.

“How was yours?” He asked before he began suck on the head that was generously leaking precum. Stevie bucked his hips up, only to have them pushed back down, causing him to moan.

“He was just as hot as I’d hoped, but—fuck!” Fernando stopped sucking.

“But what?” He looked up innocently as he licked along the side of Stevie’s shaft.

“Fuckin’ straight guys man. I knew from the start that Carra would never let him in, he was too fragile looking.” Fernando decided to take Stevie in entirely, until his chin was touching Stevie’s balls and his nose was buried in the hair on Stevie’s crotch.  Stevie tangled his fingers into Fernando’s hair and tugged, forcing Fernando, whose eyes rolled back as he drooled and licked and hollowed his cheeks shamelessly, to move. “Shit! Give a man a warning. Anyways, I told him all he had to do was suck my cock to get in and he fuckin’ ran for the hills. And now I’m stuck with you.”

He kept on tugging Fernando’s hair forcing him up until the head was barely in his mouth and then down again until he was gagging.

“Think it would have been different if I’d said ‘no homo’?”

Fernando swatted Stevie’s hand away so he could do it himself. His eyes travelled past Stevie’s knees and to where his cum was still sticking to the side of the kitchen island. He remembered the way Stevie’s cock had (eventually) abused his prostate and his asshole began to throb just at the thought. _Fuck, maybe I really am a whore_.

As if to bring him back to the task at hand, Stevie’s hand reached over to press a finger into Fernando’s hole, making him moan around Stevie. He was watching Fernando’s head bob up and down, up and down, with a rhythm that could put him to sleep if it didn’t feel so damn good. He didn’t think he’d ever find someone whose ass and mouth felt this good around his cock once Fernando decided Daniel was his one and only. That moment was likely to happen sooner rather than later. Stevie noticed that Fernando’s genuine smiles were granted only to Daniel or the mention of Daniel or the thought of Daniel. And Stevie was happy for him, he really was. But he would definitely miss this.

He came deep into Fernando’s throat—so deep, that Fernando didn’t even need to swallow. Stevie watched as Fernando drank him down and then removed his mouth, a line of drool following and covering his chin. Stevie wiped it for him as he sat up again, grinding down on the three fingers that Stevie had managed to squeeze into him. His eyelids were heavy as he stroked his own cock and Stevie massaged the sensitive bundle of nerves in him mercilessly, making him twitch every few seconds. His thighs shuddered, the only warning before he came again and rolled his head onto Stevie’s shoulder.

“I should go,” he yawned.

“I don’t think you should be driving when you’re like this,” Stevie countered. “Just stay over.”

“If I get into bed with you, you’re just gonna convince me to let you fuck me again.”

“What’s so wrong with that?”

 _Absolutely nothing, oh God, please convince me to let you fuck me again_. His mind wandered to Daniel. “M’ tired.”

Stevie patted his cheek. “Have fun on the couch then, spoilsport,” he said, laughing.

He got up, letting Fernando’s head fall off his shoulder, and left the room. Fernando was already asleep when he returned with a blanket and a pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to point out that I might tweak tiny details in past chapters as I go along to avoid continuity errors. This is the first time I'm writing without having planned major plot points in advance so I might mess things up going along.
> 
> Leave a comment to let me know what you thought!!


	4. Got Your Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to the present timeline.
> 
> There is progress, and then there is also... like, not progress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is short and a bit rushed. There is a lot of dialogue and not so much description and narration so I apologize if that's not really your thing.

            “Xabi… don’t go.”

“I have to,” Xabi said, pulling socks onto his feet with a grunt of pain. His thigh wouldn’t let up with the throbbing and Cesc had swiped all the pain meds before leaving.

“I can get you more meds if that’s what you want,” Stevie taunted.

“Oh, yeah?” Xabi raised a brow. “How?”

Stevie smiled. “I know a guy.”

“Of course you do.” Xabi sighed. He was sitting on the edge of his bed fully dressed but he didn’t get up to fetch his shoes. He didn’t really want to leave.

“Please don’t go.”

Xabi leaned in closer to Stevie. “If I recall correctly, those were my exact words to you.”

Stevie tried to maintain eye contact but averted his gaze out of guilt eventually. Xabi moved away but still didn’t get up. He was begging something ethereal that Stevie should come up with an excuse to convince him to stay.

“I have to go see James. I’m pretty sure this shit is infected.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Stevie said.

 _Wrong_ ,Xabi thought.

“It’s barely been three days since you got shot, it’s supposed to be hurting,” Stevie said.

 _Still wrong_ , Xabi thought.

“Pain doesn’t equal infection,”

_Why are you putting this off?_

“Just stay and rest.”

_Stevie I know that you know what I want to hear._

“That’s all you should do until the stitches come out.”

_Just say it. Please say it._

“Xabi, I need you to stay.”

Xabi turned to face Stevie. “What?”

“I _need_ you, Xabi.”

Xabi grinned widely and then pretended to inspect the hem of his shirt. “Really?”

“Yes, really. I need you so much.” Stevie tilted his head to motion to the tent in the blanket covering his lower half. Xabi had been very obviously ignoring it ever since he woke up. “I need you, and I need you _now_.”

“Okay.” Xabi pulled his shirt over his head and carefully crawled over to Stevie, most of his weight supported by his arms rather than his knees, since one of his legs was practically useless.

“Just one question”

“Hm?” Xabi placed his hands on Stevie’s thighs.

Stevie rattled the handcuffs that pinned his wrists to the headboard. “Are these necessary?”

“Yes.”

“Dare I ask why?”

“Because I’m not done making you pay for leaving me.”

\----

Fernando opened his door, expecting to see anyone but Leo. Leo didn’t seek people out like that if he’d asked them to come see him first. So Fernando was kind of terrified by the way Leo was grinning at him.

“Hey,” he said, greeting the man he hadn’t seen in years. “I was gonna come see you tomorrow.”

“Stop lying and give me a proper hello.” Leo embraced Fernando and got no retaliation. He pulled back and regarded Fernando with confusion. “Is something wrong?”

“No, of course not.” Fernando shook the sleep out of his mind. “I just—I wasn’t expecting you at all.”

Fernando smiled and pulled Leo back into the hug that he’d left hanging. Leo always gave the best hugs. Maybe it was because he was small. Or maybe it was because he was scary and if he was hugging you it meant he wasn’t busy trying to kill you and if that wasn’t comforting, then Fernando didn’t know what was.

They moved away from the doorway and sat down

“So,” Leo started, once they had settled. “Did you get it done?”

Fernando winced. “Sort of.”

“What do you mean?” A dark look crossed Leo’s face.

“He’s definitely dead. But… it wasn’t me who killed him.”

“Do you know who did?”

“His voice was familiar. But I didn’t recognize it. I didn’t see his face.”

“But Fabio is dead.”

“For sure. I called the snitch at the station and confirmed it. A body was found in the basement of the squat house. Cause of death was excessive bleeding from a bullet wound.”

“You saw it happen?” Fernando nodded. “Did you hear anything?”

“The guy asked Fabio if he knew where someone was but Fabio said he didn’t and that he was trying to avoid him because said someone wanted him dead.” Fernando stopped and took in the frown on Leo’s face. “They were talking about you, weren’t they.”

Leo looked solemn. “Yes.”

“Who was the guy?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he sighed

“Why did you want Fabio dead?”

“He…” Leo trailed off. “It’s personal.”

“You sent me to kill someone for personal reasons? That’s not cool man.”

“Okay maybe not personal,” he bit his lip, “but I can’t exactly tell you.”

Fernando frowned at him. Working for Leo wasn’t like working for Carragher, but this—telling him to do something and expecting him to follow directions without questioning—was something Carragher would do. Fernando didn’t really care about the reason behind a job, but he’d always trusted Leo to tell him if he did ask.

“Just trust me? I don’t want you worrying.”

“It makes me worry when you just expect me to trust you.”

Leo smirked. “Do you _not_ trust me?”

“I do,” Fernando said. “Of course I do, but I don’t know what kind of crazy shit you’ve been up to in the last few years.”

“Nothing too crazy. Just a little difficulty that needs to be sorted out.”

“Is...is that why you’re back?”

Leo hesitated before nodding. “It’s not a big problem. Just a couple of people who need to learn to keep their mouths shut.”

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Fernando told him. “I’ll help you with whatever you need.”

“I know.” Leo looked him the eyes. “But I don’t expect you to. I haven’t exactly treated you the way you deserve. I haven’t always had your best interests in mind, or even Xabi’s or Cesc’s or Cris’ or anyone else.”

Fernando raised a brow. “I wouldn’t say that. Neither would they. You’ve always had our backs.”

“But only when it’s benefited me. I forced you to doubt your relationship with Daniel. Just because I thought it would help you concentrate on working for me. Of course I always knew that wouldn’t stop you from seeing him, but it toyed with your feelings and that wasn’t right. I had Xabi’s heartbroken because I thought it would make him strong enough to take over, even though he obviously always had the qualities of a leader.”

Fernando wanted to interrupt him but he realized that Leo probably needed to do this. To talk about his mistakes and to make amends with the people he cared for.

“I always discouraged Cesc from pursuing Iker. I almost got him to quit his job once. And now he’s more of a mess than I ever intended to let him be. I wouldn’t have even let Cris leave if it weren’t for the fact that his kid was involved.”

Fernando nodded. Some of the things were beginning to make sense and they all connected to one ultimate question. “Why did you leave?”

Leo didn’t answer.

“Did you feel like things were getting out of your control?”

Leo shook his head. “Not really. I felt more like I wasn’t in control of myself. All of those things I did, they don’t make me any better than Carragher do they? I may have done it differently but I was still being pretty possessive of you guys.”

“At least you didn’t kidnap Daniel and Stevie and torture them… or something.”

“ _At least_ ,” Leo laughed humourlessly. “Maybe not. But like I said, I wasn’t doing much better.”

That was as much of an apology as Fernando was going to get from Leo, and it was pretty much enough. Leo didn’t exactly have a way with words, and neither did Fernando, so he understood where the man was coming from. His relationship with Daniel had been strained, barely existing, for so many years aside from sneaky hookups that everyone knew about but no one spoke of. And all because he’d let Leo’s words get to him. He’d believed that Daniel would never truly love him for as long as he worked for Carra. He’d believed that Daniel would never truly prioritize him. Despite Daniel showing him that those things were untrue, he had still been so uncertain. Just the fact that Daniel had put up with him for so long should have been proof enough, but Fernando had been insecure. He’d let Leo make him insecure. But he now understood the regret that Leo was feeling because of it.

“I thought if I left for a while, things would sort themselves out. And I’m glad that things are slowly getting better, no thanks to me.”

“Just you saying these things means a lot, Leo.”

Leo smiled. “I should get going. There are things that still need to be sorted out.”

Fernando nodded. But he still wished he knew more about what was going on.

\----

Iker had stopped by to see Cesc in the morning to see how he was doing. Cesc had melted into Iker’s hug and had only partially molded himself back together after Iker had left, when there was a knock at his door. Looking through the peephole, he was unpleasantly surprised to see the one person that stood between him and the man he loved. Hesitantly opening the door, but not letting him in, Cesc couldn’t help the scowl that crept onto his face.

“How’s your shoulder?” Sergio asked.

“What do you want?”

“Can’t I check up on a patient?”

“I’m not your patient. How do you know where I live?”

“It wasn’t difficult. I just followed Iker.”

“What do you want?” Cesc repeated.

“I’m looking for someone. And I know you can help me find him.”

“I doubt it.”

“I know you know who it is too. You used to work for him.”

“Sorry. I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Cesc tried to shut the door in Sergio’s face. Sergio stuck his foot out to stop the door from closing.

“Don’t waste my time. Where is he?”

“I said I don’t know who you’re looking for. Piss off.”

Sergio narrowed his eyes. “You know, you’re taking Iker’s friendship for granted. One word from me about what you do and Iker will never fucking talk to again.”

Cesc scoffed. “Yeah? Well you’re taking your life for granted. You say anything to Iker and I’ll have nothing left to lose. Nothing to stop me from blowing your fucking brains out.”

Sergio grimaced at Cesc’s threat. “Where is he?”

“Say hi to Iker for me.” Cesc pushed the door shut all the way and got out his phone.

_Stay away from my place. ‘You know who’ was looking for you._

The reply was almost immediate.

_Yeah well he already got to Fabio. So does it even matter anymore?_

Cesc frowned.

_Fabio’s dead? Leo he’ll kill you too!_

_Fabio was dead the second he got involved when I told him not to. It’s his own fault. Do Fernando or Xabi remember him?_

_From all that time ago? I don’t think so. They were pretty heavily medicated at the time._

_Good. Don’t tell them that Sergio was Xabi’s surgeon. There is no need for more people to get involved._

_Leo, you know they’ll have your back._

_That’s what I’m afraid of._

\----

“Quit being such a child, Stevie.”

“You hurt me. I’m bleeding.”

Xabi sighed. “You’re barely scratched, and you did it to yourself. I told you not to pull so much on the handcuffs.”

“I couldn’t help it!”

“Just hold still so I can get these off.” Xabi reached over Stevie’s head and unlocked the handcuffs. Stevie brought his hands down to his chest and rubbed his wrists lightly to alleviate the soreness. Xabi lay with his head turned to face Stevie and watched him scowl at the pinkish lines on his skin. “I don’t see any blood.”

“Yeah well just because there’s no blood doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

Xabi moved his hands to capture Stevie’s wrists, tracing them with his cold fingers. “I’m sorry.”

Stevie smiled at him sadly. “So am I.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

Stevie groaned and pulled his hands out of Xabi’s grip. “Don’t go all Han Solo on me right now. I refuse to be Princess Leia.”

“Would you rather be Chewbacca?”

“Be serious, Xabi.”

“Says the man who is rarely serious.”

Stevie turned on his side to better see Xabi’s face. “I’ve been pretty serious since I’ve been back.”

“Yeah, it’s scary if I’m being honest.”

“Me being serious is scary?”

Xabi nodded. “Because it means something is wrong.”

“Something _is_ wrong,” Stevie said. He moved a hand to Xabi’s cheek. “ _We’re_ wrong. And we used to be so right. It’s entirely my fault.”

Xabi covered Stevie’s hand with his own. “It’s not like I tried to stop you from leaving. I’m at fault too.”

“How mad are you?”

“I’m not.” Xabi frowned. “Not mad. Just upset.”

“I don’t want to make you upset.” Stevie leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to Xabi’s lips. Xabi pulled him back for a deeper one. Stevie moved his lips to Xabi’s jaw before he spoke again. “I want to make you happy.”

“Yeah?” Stevie nodded. “Do me a favour then?”

“Anything.”

“Get me those pain meds you were talking about. Before I saw my leg off.”

Stevie grinned. “I’m on it.”

He jumped off the bed and left the room.

“Don’t forget your clothes Stevie!”

“Right! Of course!” Stevie hurried back into the room to get dressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I tried to make some references to things that will be in upcoming chapters without it being too confusing but I'm sorry if it didn't work.
> 
> Anyways, tell me what you think will happen next (in the present timeline or the past timeline, whichever).


	5. A Little Piece of Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Past timeline.
> 
> Why Fernando and Xabi owe Leo their lives - Part Two - A Little Piece of Heaven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter! Enjoy!

The next morning, Fernando, Daniel and some of Carra’s other guys were lined up, hearing his assessment of what they had done the day before. One of them was already dead—Carra had put bullet in his head—for fucking up an important bank robbery. His eyes were still wide open and blood was pooling behind his head and in his open mouth. In the heat of the summer, flies were already buzzing around his body. Stevie had opted out of coming entirely. Not that it mattered—Carra let him do whatever he wanted anyways. No one understood how he was even considered part of the gang if none of the rules applied to him. He wasn’t even sleeping with Carra or anything like that. Sometimes people thought that in reality, the reason Carra let him get away with so much was because Carra actually worked for Stevie, but Fernando didn’t believe it. If that were true, Stevie would never let him be such a dictator.

When it was Daniels turn, Carra looked incredibly angry at the fact that he hadn’t recruited any children. “God knows how many of those pests are running around the streets and you couldn’t take your pick of the litter and drag one of the runts here?”

“None of them are capable of doing what you want them to do.” Daniel was having some difficulty speaking with the way Carra held his face with one hand. “They’ll get themselves killed before they can complete the simplest of jobs.”

“Stop making excuses for your own incompetence, Agger.” He pulled Daniel closer to him and talked in a lower, but just as threatening tone. “You know I like having you around, but I’m getting sick and tired of this carefree attitude you’ve developed. I don’t like it one bit.”

Fernando, as well as everyone else, heard what was being said, but wisely pretended they couldn’t. His turn was over—Carra had been relatively satisfied with what Xabi was capable of so far—but if he tried to defend Daniel, he’d only make it worse for the both of them. They’d likely be punished together and Carra’s punishments were humiliating enough when enduring them alone.

Carra pushed Daniel away and turned his back on him. The latter staggered a bit and shot a grateful look when Fernando broke his indifferent stupor to help him regain his balance. Everyone else in the room remained stoic. Then Carra turned around without warning and socked Daniel in the eye. Fernando, who still had a hand on Dan’s arm, didn’t let him fall.

“I want ten kids by the end of the month or you’re done for.” Carra gave Fernando a curious glance before he left and everyone took a sigh of relief.

“I guess someone should clean up this mess,” one of the men said, looking at the corpse. Everyone mumbled affirmatively and scattered, leaving him dumbfounded. “Hey, no fair! I took care of the last dead body.”

Fernando pulled Dan out quickly to an empty corridor near the back of the abandoned warehouse turned headquarters they were in. Ignoring Dan’s protests, he inspected the injured eye with a frown. He tried wiping some of the blood away with his thumb, so he could see the extent of the damage, and got a loud hiss in response.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“It barely hurts.”

“Just shut up!”

Fernando stepped away and dragged the palm of his hand across his face, swearing softly.

“Get him the kids.”

“I won’t.”

“He’ll _kill_ you.”

“I don’t care.”

Fernando looked at him with a pained expression. “ _I_ fucking care, okay?”

“He won’t hurt me,” Dan said, reaching for Fernando. His attempt to sooth was brushed aside impatiently. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll handle it.”

Fernando tried to swallow down the ball of anxiety that was forming at the back of his throat. “Promise?”

“I promise. I wouldn’t leave you to deal with him all alone.” Fernando finally accepted Daniels embrace. He felt lips press against his shoulder

Out of everyone that Fernando knew that worked for Carra, Daniel got punished the most. Stevie did what he wanted and got away with it. But Daniel did as he pleased and definitely did not get away with it. Still if anyone else were to act the way Daniel did, they wouldn’t get punished—they’d just be disposed of.

Fernando wondered why Dan stayed. The money couldn't be worth facing Carra's wrath as often as he did.

\----

Fernando really liked Xabi. The guy was decent enough to be around, he knew when to keep his mouth shut, and despite being a little bossy and rough around the edges, he was pretty okay. Fernando could see them being friends. What he didn’t expect was the liking Stevie would take to him.

They weren’t even supposed to meet—at least not at the time and the way they did. Fernando  had completely forgotten that he'd asked Xabi to meet him at his apartment and then he’d let Stevie come over and keep him busy all morning, resulting in a needlessly awkward situation.

The knock resounded through the entire apartment and Fernando’s head snapped to attention. With a panicked ‘Shit!’ he pushed an unaffected Stevie off of him and hurried to get dressed.

“What’s the issue? So someone’s at the door, big fucking deal. Let’s finish this up and then you can answer it.” Stevie grabbed Fernando’s hips from behind as he was bending over to pick up his boxers, getting ready to continue but Fernando straightened up and elbowed him in the ribs.

“Get dressed asshole.” Fernando tripped and fell trying to get into his jeans. He huffed and pouted as Stevie stretched out onto his bed. “If Xabi and I get late for this meeting, Carra’s gonna stick my head on a pole in his front yard. And it’ll be all your fault.”

Stevie didn’t lay there long. He shot up and headed out the bedroom door. "Don’t worry. I’ll entertain your guest."

“Stevie, no!” Fernando huffed some more.

Stevie, still in the nude, cock at attention, swung open the door, ready to scar someone for life, and froze in his spot when his cheeky eyes met impossibly soft ones. Those brown orbs, full of faux innocence, more so than Fernando’s even, raked his body up down. Those pink lips were moving and Stevie could hear sounds, music almost, but he wasn’t listening. The man (he thinks he remembers Fernando saying his name, but can't for the life of him remember it) brings his eyebrows together in a frown and his lips move once more. This time, the sounds are translated into words in Stevie’s brain.

“Uh, I’m sorry. I’m looking for Fernando.”

Stevie regained his casual, carefree posture and smirked at the man. “Fernando isn’t here—”

“Yes I am!” Fernando’s voice drifted from the bedroom.

“—but you’re welcome to come in and spend a little time with me.”

“Don’t let him touch you Xabi!”

“Xabi... I like that. Seriously though,” Stevie moved in closer, “would you rather spend the day with the grumpiest twink on earth, or someone who can show you a good time.”

To his surprise, Xabi matched his smirk. “That sounds like quite the offer, but I think I’m gonna have to pass.”

“Aw because of your meeting with Carragher?” Stevie slipped a hand behind Xabi’s neck and pulled him even closer, not caring that he was naked with the door wide open for anyone in the hallway to see. True shamelessness. “Don’t worry about him. I can get you off the hook, I’m sure he won’t mind once he finds out that you’re a little too...busy. With me.”

Xabi laughed at how forward Stevie was being (and maybe to hide how hot he was feeling with Stevie’s bare hard on against his thigh). Stevie had only just moved his hand to Xabi’s cheek when Fernando grabbed him from behind and pulled him away.

“Stop sexually harassing everyone you meet Stevie. This is becoming a serious problem.” Fernando threw a pair of boxers at Stevie, who turned around before bending down to put them on. Fernando turned to Xabi. only to see him checking out Stevie’s ass without trying to hide it. He tried to swallow down his discomfort before speaking again. “Sorry about my... roommate. If need be, it’s really easy to get a restraining order against him.”

“That’s alright. I’d be lying if I said I minded,” Xabi said as Stevie turned back around and grinned.

“Anytime.” He said, leaning against the doorframe. “Honestly, call me _anytime_.”

“Okay,” Fernando said grabbing Xabi’s arm before one of them decided to jump the others bones. “We’re going to be late.”

He pulled Xabi to the elevator, surprised, but relieved, that Stevie hadn’t engaged in a totally inappropriate goodbye. That relief was washed away when he saw Stevie step out of the apartment, still only in boxers, and with a piece of paper in his hand and follow them. Fernando willed the elevator to arrive faster. He felt like a teenager, embarrassed by his parents in front of his friends. Though neither of his parents would take one of his friends’ face in their hands and stick their tongue down their throat in the middle of an apartment building hallway in minimal clothing. Nor would they slip a piece of paper, most likely with their number on it, in his friends back pocket while trying to feel up said friends ass. Fernando hoped none of his friends would respond as enthusiastically as Xabi did.

“I’m not kidding about you calling me,” Stevie said before he turned and sauntered back into Fernando’s apartment.

“He seems nice,” Xabi grinned, laughing loudly when Fernando rolled his eyes. “Just wondering but, does he do this to everyone he meets?”

“Greet them naked or give them his number?”

“Both.”

“You’re not all that likely to find him with his clothes on, but he doesn’t give his number out very often.”

Xabi looked down at his feet. He looked shy for the first time since Fernando met him. “Think I should call him?”

“Your choice man, but don’t come complaining to me if he tries to get you to play out one of his weird kinks on the first date.”

Xabi didn’t stop smiling all the way to where they were meeting Carra.

\----

“All you have to do is get in, get the diamonds, and get out.”

“And get past a hundred different means of security just to get into the safe. Carra...this is suicide.”

“It’ll work out, don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

Fernando glared. “Just last week you killed someone who couldn’t do it.”

“Yeah but he was incompetent. And he was a test run. I sent him to see how easy it was to get into the safety deposit boxes and money reserves, but I don’t want the money. I want the diamonds.” Carra took Fernando’s face gently in both his hands. “I trust you to get them”

He looked over at where Xabi was standing quietly.

“And I trust your judgement about him.”

The diamonds Carra was referring to, were being kept haphazardly in safe in a bank at the north side of the city. From what Fernando had heard, ownership of the diamonds held as much power as they did riches.

“You trust everyone until they make a mistake,” he said quietly.

Carra’s grip on his face tightened and his voice became hard. “Then don’t make a fucking mistake.”

Fernando winced and squeezed his eyes shut. Carra took a deep breath and then smiled at him.

“Go on, now. I’m sure you have a lot of planning to do if you don’t want to mess this up.” He kissed Fernando’s furrowed brow and closed eyelids before leaving, with everyone else in the room following him. Xabi and Fernando were left alone.

“We’re dead.”

“We'll figure it out.” Xabi put his hand on Fernando’s shoulder.

Fernando, who still had his eyes closed, shook his head. “No, we won’t. We’re dead. He’s sending us to the slaughterhouse. He knows we’ll mess up. He wants the excuse to blindfold us and line us up against a wall and pretend he’s a firing squad. He wants an excuse to let us go in a field and then use us as target practice.”

“Fernando, stop! That’ll only happen if we fail which we _won’t_.”

“He’s setting us up to fail,” Fernando mumbled.

“Why would he do that? From what I’ve heard, you’re one of his favourites.”

“He doesn’t have favourites, not really. He’ll say he does but it’s all a trick. A manipulation technique.”

“You’re letting all this pressure get to your head. You’re _letting_ him manipulate you.”

Fernando finally opened his eyes. He let out a shaky breath, noticing Xabi’s worried expression. “Let’s go. There’s a lot to do.”

Xabi nodded. “Where do we go from here?”

“I’m going to introduce you to my pride and joy,” Fernando said, his voice still distressed, “Nora.”

\----

“Nora is a computer program?” Xabi asked, absolutely dumbfounded.

“Nora is our only hope in getting past the banks security. We need to search for broken links in their system, memorize their security camera patterns, familiarize ourselves with the guards and the employees and Nora is going to help us get all that information.”

Since it was a lot of load work and Nora was still in beta, they had a long wait before they’d get the information.

“So is your roommate single?”

“My wha...Oh! You mean Stevie?”

“Yeah, you guys are flatmates right? Unless he comes to walk around your apartment naked as a hobby or something.”

Fernando groaned. “Trust me, the naked thing with him is sometimes a public problem too. He has no shame. But yeah, he’s single.”

“Great,” Xabi sighed. “For a second I thought you guys were a thing. I assumed that was the reason you looked so upset with him giving me his number.”

“And kissing you.”

“So you _are_ upset about that.”

“No, no. Nothing like that, just a little grossed out. I...have someone...else.”

“Awesome. I’m still super new here and the last thing I want to do is step on any toes.”

“It’s all good.”

“So you wouldn’t mind me and your roommate...you know.”

“It’s honestly all your business.” Fernando shrugged. Then he thought up something else. “In fact, I think you’ll have more privacy than you’ll expect. He’s been talking about moving out. I think he’s already got a place.”

It was a harmless lie, really. Xabi didn’t need to know that Fernando and Stevie weren’t really roommates and instead, just slept together sometimes, or a lot of the time. In fact, it was better if he didn’t know just to avoid the uncomfortable situations that could lead to. Fernando could stick to Daniel, and Stevie and Xabi could do whatever they want.

“Good to know,” Xabi looked around awkwardly, fiddling around with his phone in his hands.

“Oh just text him already.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Shut up and text him or I’m throwing your phone out the window.”

Xabi grimaced, but unlocked his phone and began texting. A smile grew on his face as he continued and didn’t stop until a beep alerted them that their info was ready.

“Shit.”

“Those are a lot of files.”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll never get through them!”

“We have to try.”

So they worked together to pick through the information, reading up on the jewels, what they were worth, the safe they were kept in. And other important things as well. The employees, the guards, the regulars that visit the bank on the day they were planning to rob it, the layout, whom they had working on the inside—which as it turned out, was no one, and that only made things more complicated. It was a lot to take in, but it was necessary, because this wasn’t just any old bank robbery. Those diamonds would have everyone fall to Carra’s feet. But the boss had to know that the jewels’ claim to fame must be too good to be true.

That’s why Fernando thought they were going to fail. Because he didn’t believe that Carra actually expected them to pull something like this off.

“I think we can do this,” Xabi said optimistically. “As long as we know how to open the safe beforehand, the rest will be just like any other heist.”

“I bet they’re not even real,” Fernando mumbled. Xabi strained to hear him. “I bet it’s all just a trick and the second we open that safe, Carra will be waiting there for us. He’ll probably tape our deaths and make a snuff film out of them too. Post it onto the internet. He’s done that before.”

“That’s messed up. I mean killing people is one thing, but filming it some next level shit. Think he gets off on it?”

“Think?” Fernando let out a humorless laugh. “I _know_ he does. When he’s disappointed in you, he makes you watch. He forces you to join in. It’s the most humiliating thing ever. _Especially_ when he films it.”

“There’s a word for that, right?” Xabi thought for a moment. “Necrophilia?”

“Yeah…” Fernando trailed off, trying to supress horrible memories.

Xabi gave him a concerned look. “You know what? Why don’t we split this up between us and call it a night.”

Fernando looked out the small window, isolated near the top of the wall and was surprised to see it was dark already. The warehouse they used was pretty much boarded up and the few windows it did have open were so tiny, that using them for light was pretty much pointless.

“We can keep digging through this stuff tonight, but we should attempt to get at least a little sleep.”

Fernando nodded. He saved the files on an external hard drive for Xabi before they left.

\----

Fernando came home to find Stevie still occupying his apartment, but with clothes on. He sat down with his half of the information and began sifting through it, trying to comb it all carefully, so he wouldn’t miss a single detail. Stevie was busy on his phone, as Xabi had been when Fernando had parted with him, and he could only guess that they were talking to each other.

“Fernando,” Stevie said, with a solemn expression, “we have to stop seeing each other.”

“We’re _not_ seeing each other.”

“We can no longer engage in the pleasures of the flesh with one another, it just isn’t right.” Stevie sniffled slightly.

“Good riddance.”

“I’ve been texting Xabi a lot today, and I mean _a lot_.” He said grinning a bit, but still trying to maintain his fake break up act.

“I’ve noticed.”

“And I think he’s the one.” Stevie grabbed Fernando’s head and pulled it to his chest. Fernando, who was trying to read an article about the safe that the bank used, was not happy. “Don’t cry! It’ll all be okay. One day, you’ll move on, you’ll get over me and get on with your life. That day may not come for years and years and years, granted it can’t be very easy to forget a cock like mine, but that day will come eventually. Daniel has a decent dick right?”

Fernando mumbled something into Stevie’s shirt.

“What?” He let go and Fernando took a deep breath.

“I said, I wouldn’t know.”

Stevie’s eyes went wide. “You haven’t slept with him yet?”

“Don’t look at me like that! You haven’t slept with Xabi.”

“I met the guy _today_.”

“You just said he was the one.”

Stevie ignored him. “You’ve known Daniel for like _ten years_.”

“Two years.”

“When did you become such a prude. Lemme guess, you wanna take things slow and do everything right,” Stevie mocked. “Well, while you and Daniel are going on dinner and movie dates and waiting till marriage and whatnot like straight couples do or whatever, Xabi and I’ll be sexin’ it up wherever I can get him.”

“Don’t want to hear it. Just wait until after the robbery. I need him focused and not distracted. Which means you have got to stop texting him too.”

“No fucking way! You’re not gonna pull off this robbery, Nando, and I’d rather screw him _before_ Carra kills him, not after.”

“Thanks for your faith in my ability to rob a bank.”

“Aw babe, I’m just messing with you. If anyone can get into this bank, it’s you. Now come on, let me give you a good luck kiss.”

“Try and kiss me and I’ll cut your fucking tongue out.”

Stevie frowned. “You never let me kiss you. Not even when we fuck.”

“That’s because we’re friends, not boyfriends.”

“Whatever. Since I’m reserving the key to my chastity belt for now, I’m gonna go sleep. You’re boring when you have clothes on.”

Fernando frowned at Stevie’s retreating back, mentally scoffing at the thought of Stevie not being sexually active. Besides, he was _not_ boring with his clothes on. He was just busy and Stevie could have been a little less insensitive about it.

Xabi messaged him saying that the diamond would be enclosed in a box even inside the safe, and Fernando messaged back saying there should probably always be someone on duty with the ability to open the box, but they would still need to get into the safe on their own.

Unless...

He dialed Xabi’s number as the epiphany hit him.

“Something wrong?”

“How soon can you come over?”

“I can be there in ten. Is... Stevie gonna be there?”

“Get your head in game! Otherwise Carra will mount it on his wall.”

“Right, right! I’m on my way.”

Xabi made it in record time and was even huffing slightly when Fernando opened his door. Fernando was excited, because for the first time all day, he actually thought that they could pull this off.

“They don't keep the diamonds locked up in the safe,” Fernando explained, recalling every news article he had uncovered on the various attempts at stealing the diamonds. Xabi gave him a ‘what the fuck’ look. “They keep the diamonds in a safety deposit box.”

“Okay,” Xabi started, putting his hands on Fernando’s shoulders. “I know it’s late, but this isn’t the time to go nuts Fernando, both of our lives depend on it.”

With a crazy glint in his eyes, Fernando shook his head. “I’m not going nuts! I’m serious. The safe, the mentions of all these elaborate security details and the like, have been covered over and over and over, a million times, by the news and other media. They even go over everything that it would take to surpass those security measures. They literally tell the general public the methods to get past all this stuff. So it must be some kind of trap, so that whoever tries to take the diamonds gets caught red handed, but never actually gets to the jewels. Never even _sees_ the jewels.”

“Shit," a voice sounded from behind them. Stevie was coming out of the guest bedroom, in just his boxers again, rubbing his eyes and grinning widely. “I came out for a glass of water but this is even better. Nando you’re a fucking genius.”

Fernando groaned. “Please put clothes on.”

“Nope.” Stevie sauntered past Fernando and into the kitchen, shooting a grin at Xabi, which was returned, with a bit of reserved shyness as Xabi shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He turned back to Fernando once he tore his eyes away from Stevie’s ass.

“T-this, uh, thing about the safety deposit box though. Wouldn’t that be taking too much of risk?”

“A bank known for a certain thing isn’t going to get robbed for anything else. Because the general consensus for the human population is that if you go down—”

“—you go down swingin’. Damn... you _are_ a genius. Fucking brilliant.”

“Oh that’s Nando alright,” Stevie said, coming into the room once more and reaching out to pinch Fernando’s cheek. Xabi blushed slightly. “Resident genius right here. But let’s talk about you instead.”

Stevie left Fernando’s side to go wrap an arm around Xabi’s shoulders.

“Tell me everything. Likes, dislikes, turn ons, turn offs. But especially turn ons.” He guided Xabi towards the guest bedroom, as if the conversation that had just been going on had ended (which it had not, Fernando had so much more to say). Xabi looked back at Fernando, almost as if asking for permission, but Fernando thought that was dumb so he only scrunched his nose. Xabi winked, taking that as a ‘go for it but leave me out of it’ and began entertaining Stevie’s questions, much to Stevie’s delight.

Stevie swore he’d put _on_ his clothes if that’s what Xabi wanted him to do.

\----

Even though it was super late, Fernando didn’t feel like staying and listening to the sounds of Stevie banging Xabi. So instead, he decided to go over Daniels. He couldn’t think of anything else. Daniel was surprisingly already awake and extremely glad to see Fernando.

But something was off.

Daniel was flirty as usual, but he was fidgety. He either couldn’t find a comfortable position to sit in—because every time he leaned back a bit, he kept having to lean forward again and rest his chin in his hands—or he was extremely anxious about something. Or both.

It didn’t take long for things to heat up. They’d honestly just been putting it off for too long. Fernando wanted to push him into lying on his back so he could straddle him, but Daniel refused to move, keeping them both in a sitting position. Their heads were at a slightly awkward angle when kissing like that so Fernando swung his leg over Daniels lap and sat like that instead. Again trying to push Dan down into the cushions, he was met with resistance.

“Danny,” Fernando whined against his mouth. “Don’t you want me?”

He knew the answer of course. He could feel Dan’s hard on poking his ass cheek. He moved his hands to the back of Dan’s neck and then slowly started raking his nails down Daniels back in an attempt to reach the hem and pull the shirt over his head. But he didn’t get very far when Dan jerked underneath him and let out a cry of pain.

“Danny?! Daniel what happened?” He asked, searching for the answer in Dan’s face, which was contorted, worrying Fernando immensely.

His eyes were shut as he waited for the burning sensation on the skin of his back to fade. He’d been worried about this. But he’d thought the pain had died down enough and maybe Fernando wouldn’t notice. But Fernando did.

“Danny…” Fernando kissed the healed cut underneath Dan’s eye, where Carra had punched him the week before. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s nothing, it’s just my back.”

“What happened to your back?” Fernando slid off of Dan’s lap and reached for Dan’s shirt again, carefully this time. Dan tried to push him away, but not with much effort, letting Fernando peel the shirt off, and over his head. He heard a gasp and felt cold fingers soothing his heated skin.

“That feels good,” he mumbled.

“Let me get you some ice,” Fernando said. He retrieved the ice quickly. Instead of putting it in a bag to hold against the bruises and welts formed on Daniel’s back, thinking that might put too much pressure, he took individual cubes and pressed them lightly to the injuries.

Fernando sensed that Dan wasn’t going to open up about what happened very easily so he talked to him instead. He told him about his day, the job he’d gotten, what all he’d found out about the diamonds, Stevie and Xabi hooking up, even what he had eaten throughout the day as he iced the disfigured back with one hand and let Daniel squeeze the other hand. He didn’t mention Carragher even once, despite wanting to complain about how unfair the job was and how it seemed like a test designed to be failed. They sat in silence once Fernando had nothing left to say. Dan sat with his knees pulled up so he could rest his head on them and hide his tears. The water from the melted ice cubes had well soaked his sweatpants and his back was graciously numb by the time he decided to speak.

“It was because I tried to help that bartender run.”

Fernando stayed quiet.

“He was there, at the warehouse, still all bruised up from that beating your new friend gave him, and he was terrified. Remember what I said about whores? It’s always the unwilling ones. And I didn’t think Carra would show up for him so quickly, so I tried to help him.”

“You’re too good, Danny,” Fernando croaked, trying to hold back his own tears.

“It could have been worse I guess. He could have used a whip instead of a flogger. That would have broken the skin.”

“Too good for me.”

“Don’t say that!” Dan didn’t look up. He only squeezed Fernando’s hand tighter.

“Let me help you. Let me help you run, Danny. The money can’t be worth this. He can’t hurt you if he can’t find you.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not? Tell me why not?”

“I like it here.”

“How masochistic can you be Daniel? How can you _like_ being here?”

“It’s all I know.”

“There are better things out there. If you don’t want to do the things he tells you to, if you don’t want to stand by and watch as he does horrible things then _leave_.”

“You don’t understand, Fernando.”

“There’s nothing to understand. You’re being incredibly difficult about this. Do you not care about your wellbeing at all? Don’t you care about how _I_ feel when I see you like this?”

Daniel didn’t reply. Fernando was only now beginning to understand the extent of how broken Dan was. And he couldn’t stand it.  But he couldn’t do anything about it either. So he only helped Dan into bed.

“Stay,” Dan said. “Please.”

Fernando sighed, but he got into the bed anyways. They lay on their sides, facing each other, their foreheads and noses touching. Dan closed his eyes and ignored the tears stinging his face. Fernando watched him till he drifted off, and then gently wiped the tears away, before he closed his own eyes, and fell asleep too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for those who don't know, a snuff film is this messed up thing where a person in a video is actually murdered or commits suicide and it's not just acting. Like the person is actually dead in end and it usually involves someone having sex with the dead body. 
> 
> The chapter title, A Little Piece of Heaven, is a song by the band Avenged Sevenfold and it's about necrophilia but it's super catchy if you ignore the lyrics.


	6. (Not) Clueless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Present timeline - Plenty of declarations of love.

Cesc was completely and blissfully high when he decided to call Iker. In retrospect, the pills had made him feel a little queasy at first but soon enough when the throbbing in his shoulder and the blistering headache had vanished, and he didn’t regret it.

“Cesc? What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Nope. Everything this is peezy... I mean peachy. I think I mean peachy. I can’t be sure.”

Iker laughed at his state. “You need to be careful about substance abuse Cesc.”

“What are you talking about? I’m so clean that not even uh—I forgot.”

“Any specific reason you called?”

“Nah, I just love you man.”

There was a pause at the other end. “I love you too Cesc.”

“I know that but I, like, _really_ love you.”

Iker sighed. “You should get some sleep Cesc.”

“You don’t have to tell me you love me too, Iker. I know you don’t, not in that way. But I just want you to know, because I hate lying to you. And I do that a lot. Not just about this.”

Iker didn’t want to take advantage of how open Cesc was being, but he let himself be tempted anyways. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“I’ve been avoiding you because I can’t _stand_ being around you. I can’t be in the same room with you without feeling like my world is gonna cave in.”

“I know how you feel,” Iker mumbled

“ _No, you don’t_ ,” Cesc accused. “You don’t know how it feels because you’ve got _perfect_ surgeon Sergio and you love him and he loves you back. So you don’t know how it fucking feels.”

“How the fuck would you know how I feel Cesc?” Iker snapped. Then he took a deep breath to calm himself down. “We shouldn’t talk when you’re like this. Get some rest.”

“No, Iker! Please don’t hang up.” He wasn’t ready to be alone with his thoughts.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“Do you need me to come over?”

Cesc wanted to say yes. “No.”

“Want me to stay on the line?”

Cesc nodded, forgetting that Iker couldn’t see him. But Iker understood the silence and didn’t hang up. Over the next hour, one of them would say something every few minutes and the other would reply quietly, both ignoring the conversation at the beginning of the call. Iker didn’t need Cesc to tell him anything, because he knew more than Cesc thought he did. He might play the clueless, always in-the-dark friend, but he had known Cesc for a very long time. He’d been in this part of the city for a very long time. And he didn’t ignore the things that went on. But if he told Cesc what he knew, if he stopped playing stupid, he was afraid he’d lose something and never get it back. There were a lot of things that he didn’t tell Cesc, things that Cesc thought he did a good job of hiding.

“Iker?”

“Yeah?”

Cesc took a deep breath. His eyes were drooping and his words were running together. “Do you really love Sergio?”

Iker chose his next words carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his friend, but he didn't want to give him the wrong impression either. “Maybe. I haven’t been going out with him very long. But I do really like him, Cesc.”

“I understand. I won’t bother you. I shouldn’t have even said anything.”

“You should know you can tell me anything.”

“But I can’t,” Cesc said, choking up.

“Yes you can. I’ll never condemn you for anything you say or anything you do.”

“You will. You’ll... hate... me.”

“I’ll never hate you Cesc.” But it was too late, he could hear Cesc’s steady breathing through the phone. He hoped that Cesc was already in bed and not slumped on his couch. Hanging up, he wondered when he and Cesc could stop lying to each other.

He really did like Sergio. Sergio was so good to him, and since the day they had met, seeing him, talking to him, being with him, made his heart leap. Made his lungs work in overdrive, with his blood speeding through his veins at a burning pace. It reminded him of how he felt when he was with Cesc. The main difference was that he had never been able to admit that to Cesc. There were too many lies between them. Too many complications.

He wasn’t really settling for Sergio in terms of feelings, but he was sincerely conflicted when it came to the man he had pursued, and the friend who hid things from him—the friend that he hid things from too.

But he couldn’t emphasize the point more to himself than anyone else, that he _really did like Sergio_. He couldn’t fake nor could he just imagine what he felt.

Still, he took everything in stride. He would never take the way Sergio smiled at him for granted. Never take the way Sergio treated him for granted. He couldn’t risk what he had to go and reach for something that would probably never work out for him in the end anyways. Because Cesc was the kind of person he told himself he hated. Even if he could convince himself he liked Sergio (because he did, he _really_ did), he couldn’t convince himself not to like Cesc.

Now that Cesc had admitted something to him that he had been hoping wasn’t true, he was more than sure everything was going to turn to shit.

\----

When Cesc woke up, his headache had returned, and the annoying voices coming from somewhere in his apartment weren’t making things any better. He pulled his blanket over his head and tried to go back to sleep but he ran out of a comfortable supply of oxygen and began to perspire and had to take it off again. The heat was uncomfortably high, and he was too lazy to get up and turn it down.

Also, who the fuck was in his apartment?

He strained to make out what the muffled voices were saying through his door and who they belonged to. Someone laughed and he wanted to puke. How dare someone be so happy when he was so miserable? That shouldn’t be allowed.

Meanwhile, Xabi and Stevie sat in his living room with Fernando who was pointedly ignoring them. Because they were making fun of him.

“So what did Daniel say to you when you told him you _looooved_ him?” Xabi asked.

Fernando only took a bite of his bagel and glared at Cesc’s carpet. _Why the fuck isn’t he awake yet?_

“He probably realized that he should get with someone who wasn’t such an emotional cripple,” Stevie answered for him.

Fernando sipped his coffee with admirable restraint since he had strangled Stevie ten times in his head.

“How good of a blow job must it have been to have knocked some sense in him?” Maybe he should strangle them in real life. Not enough to kill them. Just enough to permanently damage their vocal chords so they could never speak again.

“Must have been pretty fucking amazing. It’s not easy to please this drama queen.”

Xabi frowned. “Wait,” he said in a tone that signalled that the teasing was probably over. “How would _you_ know?”

Fernando almost choked on his bagel but Stevie seemed unfazed. He left Xabi’s side to plop down next to Fernando and put a hand on his thigh which Fernando subsequently tried to squirm away from.

“Don’t you know Xabs? Fernando and I were lovers in a past lifetime,” he said grinning.

Xabi grumbled a little but cracked a grin. Fernando only elbowed Stevie in the gut and moved away, scowling.

“Anyways—”

“Could you fuckers keep it down?” Cesc yelled through his bedroom door.

“Damn,” Xabi said. “I thought he was happy now that Leo’s back.”

Fernando shook his head. “It probably has to do with Iker. He doesn’t come out of his room when he’s upset about something that happened with Iker.”

“But what the hell could have happened?”

“Stop talking about me,” Cesc grumbled, coming into the room and snatching Fernando’s half eaten bagel right out of his hand.

Fernando felt incredibly bullied.

“Why the hell are you all here?”

“I got a job for you,” Xabi said, finishing off his coffee. “So stop moping. I need you focused.”

“What job?”

“There’s a dealer on the west end who owes us a lot of money.”

“Fine. But I don’t wanna go alone.”

“You’re not," Xabi said. “Fernando’s going with you.”

“What?! I thought today was my day off.”

Xabi rolled his eyes. “This isn’t a nine to five job Fernando. You don’t get days off. You can go tell Daniel how much you love him later.”

Cesc laughed. “You told Daniel you loved him?”

“No I didn’t!” Fernando buried his face in his hands.

“I thought you did,” Stevie asked. “Didn’t you talk to him about your feelings?”

“Leave me alone. Get dressed, Cesc.”

“Ugh, can we go later?” Cesc protested, whining through a mouthful of Fernando’s bagel.

“No get dressed.”

Cesc grimaced and took another huge bite out of the bagel and then tossed it back to Fernando as he left the room.

“Geez,” Stevie mumbled. He was back at Xabi’s side. “What crawled up your ass and died?”

Fernando glared at him as he and Xabi burst into laughter. He saw Xabi press a kiss to Stevie’s cheek before he turned away from them.

\----

“Name?”

“David or something. Does it matter? Let’s just get the money so we can go.”

“Okay but if he runs, you’re gonna have to be the one to chase after him.”

Fernando shot Cesc a dirty look. “Your legs are fine.”

“I’m not running.”

Fernando rolled his eyes. They were in a hotspot for dealers so there were always cops hanging around. They had to be careful. They made their way to where some junkies had said they saw the dealer last.

The guy in question was casually doling out bags of crystals—that were a colour neither Fernando nor Cesc had ever seen before—looking like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“You David?” Cesc asked. His customers scattered, sensing the tension that the duo brought with them.

“Who’s asking?” He puffed out his chest, as if that was supposed to make him look tougher.

Fernando rolled his eyes and grabbed him roughly by the collar. “Xabi Alonso is asking.”

Recognition of the name widened the dealer’s eyes.

“I-I don’t know any Xabi Alonso. Let me go.”

“Where’s the money David?” Cesc asked patiently.

“What money man? Look, I’m just a regular guy like the two of you, trying to make it in this harsh world. If you let me go, I’ll hook you up with whatever you want. I’ll even give you the friend discount.”

Fernando and Cesc shared a look. The building they were behind was an old construction site, so there was a lot of materials and other shit lying around. Cesc chose a nicely rusted metal rod to pick up and held it with his good arm.

“Wait! Forget the discount, you can have whatever you want for free!”

“We want the money,” Fernando said.

“I don’t have it! I don’t have any money I swear!”

Cesc regarded the rod for a second, testing its weight, before he swung it at the dealers gut as Fernando held him in place.

\----

“That was pretty easy.”

“Yeah he gave in before you even got started,” Fernando laughed. “Did it feel good to get some frustration out?”

Cesc nodded. “Wasn’t much but yeah, I feel a bit better.”

“What happened between you and Iker?”

“I was drugged up and told him I loved him.”

Fernando frowned. “And you were gonna make fun of me for the same thing?”

“According to you, you _didn’t_ tell Daniel that you love him.”

“I didn’t, but still!”

“Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Love him.”

“I don’t know.”

Cesc sighed. “Yes you do. You’re just afraid. Of what? I wouldn’t know. But you should figure your shit out.”

Fernando attempted to swallow down the ball forming at the back of his throat. “Don’t preach to me about sorting my shit out. You’re just trying to change the subject.”

“Maybe I am, but that doesn’t make what I said any less true. You know I’m right.”

“What did Iker say?”

“I barely remember. Just some bullshit to spare my feelings.” Fernando nodded. “How come you’re okay with talking about other people’s feelings but not your own.”

“Okay, we’re done talking.” Fernando started walking faster, becoming frustrated with the conversation. He heard Cesc’s laughter behind him.

“I’m only teasing!”

“Suck my ass.” A mother on the street glared at him as she covered her giggling kids ears. He mumbled an apology as he passed.

Cesc didn’t follow him. Instead, he checked the text he’d gotten from Iker earlier in the morning, sighing when he read the words he’d been dreading ever since Iker had told him they should talk later.

He wasn’t sure if he was ready.

\----

He walked into Iker’s office with a heavy load on his chest and a bad feeling.

“Hey,” Iker greeted him, not with a hug as he usually would. “I didn’t think you’d actually come.”

“Yeah well, uh,” Cesc refused to make eye contact, “I did actually come so…”

“I’m glad you did.” That left them in an awkward silence. They both looked around, letting their gazes fall everywhere but on each other. Iker was the first to speak again. “How’s your shoulder?”

“It still hurts. But it’s better.”

“That’s good.”

“I have to tell you something,” Cesc started, gulping slightly. “I didn’t get shot during a mugging.”

“I know.”

Cesc looked at him in surprise. “You do?”

“Yeah,” Iker frowned. “It was during that thing we talked about, right? Where they found that dead body? And there was that rumour about a kidnapped kid.”

“How did you—?”

“Did the kid get home safely?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“Thats a relief.”

“I guess so.” Cesc was feeling anxious at the direction of the conversation. “How long have you known?”

“A long time. I know about Fernando and Xabi and all your other friends too. I’m not clueless.”

Cesc blushed. “I never thought you were. I just thought... I thought you hated people like me.”

“I do. But I just don’t hate you.”

It was Cesc’s turn to frown. “Why?”

“I don’t know Cesc. I really don’t.” Iker crossed the room so he was standing right in front of Cesc. “I just know that I could never hate you. I don’t approve of the things you do, but I’d rather have you in my life, than not.”

“That’s not fair, Iker.”

“I know it’s not, and I don’t expect you to stay. But I just wanted you to know how I felt.”

Cesc sighed. “Maybe I should leave.”

“Nothing is stopping you,” Iker replied softly.

Cesc closed the distance between them and kissed Iker softly. He pulled away and left Iker alone, both of them feeling more conflicted and broken than ever before.

Cesc saw Sergio getting out of his car on his way out. He approached the man with a smile that spelled out trouble.

“Remember what I said about not having anything to lose?”

Sergio rolled his eyes. “What of it?”

“Well, you better watch your fucking back. Leave Leo alone, or you’ll regret it.”

\----

Fernando and Daniel were breathing hard on Daniel’s kitchen floor after round... four? Five? They hadn’t really kept count.

“As fun as that was, I’m kinda worn out. Wanna just call it a day?” Daniel got up and went in search for his pants. Fernando only closed his eyes.

“Danny... I love you,” he said. He could hear Daniel stop moving. “You know that, right?”

“Of course I do.” Fernando felt Daniel kneel beside him and push his hair off his forehead to press a kiss there. “I love you too.”

Fernando opened his eyes and grinned. “That was easier than I thought it would be.”

“You shouldn’t have any doubts about what I feel for you Nando.”

“I did. For a long time. But I don’t anymore.”

“Good to know. You want something to eat or what?”

“Only if you cook it for me naked.”

Dan scoffed. “Fuck cooking. I was gonna order takeout. Or maybe get pizza delivered.”

“I don’t care what it is as long as I get to eat it off your chest.”

“I told you I’m worn out,” Dan whined. Fernando kissed him deeply.

“I can eat off you in, like, a non-sexual way,” he offered.

Dan rolled his eyes and picked up his cell. “Nope. You’re cut off.”

“It hasn’t been two minutes since I told you I loved you and we’re already acting like a married couple. What’s next? You gonna tell me you have a headache? Or that the kids are in the other room and it wouldn’t be right?”

Dan gave him a weird look and seemed like he was going to reply, but someone answered the call he had made and he gave an order for pizza. When he was done he put his phone down and regarded Fernando with an amused expression. “Put some clothes on. The world doesn’t need another Steven Gerrard.”

Fernando pouted but he slipped his clothes back on anyways. But only because he wanted to, not because Dan told him to and he’d do anything Dan said.

\----

Later on, after the pizza (that he’d eaten off of a plate and not off of Dan’s chest) he was rummaging through his bag and came across Sergio’s journal. Bored, because Dan was taking a nap, he decided to humour himself a little and opened it to a random page.

But he wasn’t humoured. The words spelled out the last fucking thing he wanted to know.

He left Dan’s apartment hastily, thinking he could call him later. But right now, he just needed to find Leo.


	7. Robbery, Assault and Battery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Past timeline.
> 
> Why Fernando and Xabi owe Leo their lives - Part Three - Robbery, Assault and Battery

Fernando didn’t want to leave Daniel alone in the morning, but he and Xabi had to get back to work. Daniel urged him to go, with assurances that he was fine. That everything would be fine. But Fernando didn’t believe him. Every time Daniel said things were going to be okay, that he’d take care of everything, nothing seemed to end up being right. And Fernando was worried.

Still, he left and met up with Xabi at a local café, discreetly finalizing everything. Nobody took notice of them. They were just two more people in a world of seven billion. No one would suspect them of trying to steal jewels worth the lives of millions. Fernando looked too innocent with his boyish looks and never aging face, and Xabi looked too professional in his button down shirt and pants with the creases ironed to perfection.

They wanted minimum casualties. Not that they wouldn’t kill anyone if they had to, but they didn’t want to. So they went over the steps, the plan, the layout over and over again. First at the cafe, in an alley way, back at Fernando’s apartment (where Stevie still was, and kept trying to distract them).

Fernando tried to discreetly text him as Xabi was looking over the details of the silent alarm for the thousandth time.

_You do remember you have your own place to live right?_

The reply was immediate.

_You’re the one who told him that I live here. I’m just avoiding continuity issues._

Stevie shot him a smile.

_I told him you were moving out. So you better ‘move out’. AND SOON!!!_

Stevie flipped him the finger and whispered something in Xabi’s ear, making him turn red. Then he got up and left the two to finalize the planning of their heist.

Everything was perfect.

They were going to get the diamonds.

And Carra wasn’t going to kill them.

\----

Xabi, dressed as professionally as usual, waited in a back street near the block the bank was on. The area of the city the bank was located in was way too high end to have seedy alleys. Even the street Xabi was on had houses that looked more like mansions.

He finally got his signal. A call from Fernando.

“I’m on my way.”

“Great,” came Fernando’s voice through a lot of static. For a posh area, the phone signal was super shitty. “Sound busy. You’re gonna look like such a loser walking with your phone to your ear and not saying anything.”

“I could be _listening_. Besides, what do people know? They don’t know me. They don’t know my life.”

“Whatever, I’m fucking exhausted. Aren’t you?”

Xabi turned onto the designated block. The bank was on the corner of the next intersection. “Not really, why?”

“You fucking should be, you’re the one who kept me up all night. I was having nightmares about it even after it ended.”

“What are you talking about?”

“ _Oh Stevie_ ,” Fernando mocked in a comically high pitch. “ _Oh yeah, right there mmm, you’re so big Stevie, yeah, fuck me hard_.”

Xabi stopped walking as Fernando burst into laughter. “I didn’t say those things!”

“Yeah, you did!”

“This is a fucking conspiracy. You’re plotting against me, I know you are. I swear if Stevie put you up to this I—”

“Relax I’m just joking.” Fernando continued laughing. “I wish I could see your face right now.”

Xabi cleared his throat, hoping he wasn’t red. “I believe we have a task at hand."

"Right, of course. Continue on. I’ll be right behind you."

Xabi was about to start walking again when someone stepped in front of him.

“Xabi Alonso! Great to finally meet you!” The man said. He was short but solidly built.

“Uh, I’m sorry. Do I know you?” Xabi asked, removing his phone from his ear. He knew Fernando was probably wondering what was going on. The traffic of people moved smoothly, avoiding them easily as the short man had him backed against a window.

“No, not yet. But you will. You’ll be seeing me sooner than you think.”

Xabi frowned. “Look man, if I don’t know you, then I don’t really give shit. I’ve got things to do.”

“Of course, how rude of me. Don’t worry though. You’ll know me soon enough. You’ll _need_ me soon enough.” The short man disappeared into the throng of people on the sidewalk.

There was a buzzing noise coming from Xabi’s phone, so he brought it back to his ear.

“Hello? Xabi? Answer dammit!”

“Hey, sorry. Just got stopped by some psycho. I’m almost in, which means you should start walking too.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you when I’m close. Stay on the line."

Xabi wasn’t supposed to hang up until he was next in line to talk to a teller. So he kept mumbling things half-heartedly into the receiver and Fernando complained to him about Daniel. He didn’t really know this Daniel guy, at least he had never met him, but knew about his infamous rep in the gang for being the one member to get into shit loads of trouble with Carragher and still be alive. Apparently that was an impressive feat.

Fernando kept complaining, not really even paying attention to his own words when someone stopped him.

“You know, this plan of yours is pure unadulterated genius. It would work perfectly too, if only you weren’t being set up.”

“Excuse me?” Fernando snapped, eyeing the short man who stopped him skeptically.

“Leo,” the man said, offering his hand. Fernando didn’t accept it.

“I really don’t care.”

Leo smirked, he seemed amused rather than offended. “You will. But if I were you, I’d abandon the plan. Call Xabi back. Move to a different country, change your name, get a new face. Don’t waste your time trying to get those diamonds. That’s not what your boss is really after.”

“Oh yeah? What do you know?”

Leo looked at him with pity. “More than you think.”

“Look I’m busy,” Fernando said, distracted. He should have been near the bank by now. “Kindly fuck off and mind your own business.”

Leo smiled sadly. “Take my advice or don’t...you’ll figure things out for yourself soon enough.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Fernando mumbled, continuing on his way.

The second he was inside the bank where the ATM machines were, he stopped behind the guard on duty at the front door, who was lazily scratching his ass. He looked around to make sure no one was able to see as he pulled out his gun and stuck it to the guard’s side. The guard tensed but smartly didn’t make a move. Fernando took the pistol from the guards belt, unhinging the clip and letting the bullets drop onto the floor, before dropping the gun as well and kicking it away. He out his mouth near the guards ear.

“Turn the sign.” The guard turned the sign from open to closed. Fernando pushed him towards a number pad near the entrance. “Deadbolt the place now. And don’t you dare try to put in the code for the alarm, you and everyone else inside will be dead long before the police can arrive.”

The guard followed his orders. There was a collection of screams from behind the second set of doors and Fernando could see people running for cover. He knew Xabi had gotten to the tellers. Once a click confirmed the deadbolt was in place, Fernando pushed the guard through the second set of doors and yelled to get people’s attention.

“Alright, listen up! The faster you cooperate, the faster you get to go home. The less trouble you give us, the less people have to get hurt. Everyone put your phones up in the air where I can see them and don’t even try to pretend you don’t have one.”

Every arm went in the air, holding a mobile device. Xabi was holding a gun to line of employees by a bare wall. He'd gotten them all away from the counters and desks so none of them would activate the silent alarm. Fernando pushed a bag towards the guard and told him to collect all the phones. They’d been expecting a second guard to come charging in from the security room but that didn’t happen.

“I got this, you go get the security tapes.”

Xabi nodded and hurried off. Fernando kept the gun trained at the employees but his eyes watched the guard. It didn’t take long for Xabi to come back with the guard that was supposed to back up the guard at the front.

“Got the tapes. Found this little runt in there too. Hiding under a fucking table.”

“I thought this place was supposed to maximum fucking security,” Fernando scoffed as Xabi pushed the scrawny guard from the security room next to the other one who had finished collecting phones. The guards shrugged. Fernando grabbed one the tellers by the collar. “You’re gonna show me to safety deposit boxes.”

The tellers eyes widened. He’d expected to be asked where the safe was, not this. He either thought Fernando and Xabi we’re just petty thieves who didn’t know about the diamonds, or that they’d figured everything out. Neither was good because both those possibilities meant the diamonds were about to be stolen. Still, the teller had no choice.

“You good here?” Fernando asked Xabi.

“Go ahead. The sooner we get this over with the better.”

Fernando shoved the teller ahead of him and then followed him to where the safety deposit boxes were. He made the teller open every single one, ignoring the abundance of other jewellery, bundles of money, piles of property papers and life altering contracts. He knew when the teller had finally got to the one with the diamonds, because the man hesitated and began trembling. Fernando sighed.

“Look, we don’t want to hurt anyone. We just want to get out of here as fast as we can. Got it?”

The teller nodded and opened the box. Fernando tried not to let his jaw drop at the size and weight of the diamonds as he shoved them into the pouch inside his jacket. He was ready to go when the door to the room slammed open, and Carra walked in with his gun trained to the back of Xabi’s head.

A voice in the back of Fernando’s mind taunted him.

_If only you weren’t being set up._

“Carra...what’s going on?”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice Fernando?” He was confused. What did Carra think he’d done? “I know it was mostly you. But I didn’t think it would be him too, not until these past few days.”

Carra wound a hand tightly around Xabi’s neck, constricting his breathing.

“Carra, I don’t—”

“Shut up! I know it was you!” The teller was shaking like a leaf in the wind and making sounds like a wounded animal. “It’ll be in your best interest to do as I say.”

Fernando nodded. The diamonds were in his pocket, but Carra didn’t know that. And he didn’t have to. Maybe he could use them as a barter for their lives. Or maybe that man on the street had been right, and none of this was really about the diamonds. Either way, he and Xabi were probably screwed.

Just as he was about to follow Carra out, he remembered he had a gun too. Mentally kicking himself, for being an idiot, he walked towards Carra as if he was going to follow, but then just pointed the weapon at him, aiming it between the eyes. Still, Carra didn’t flinch. In fact, if anything, it was Xabi who looked more distressed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Carra, but we haven’t done anything you didn’t want us to. So let us go.”

Carra laughed. “ _Haven’t done anything I don’t want you to?_ What haven’t you done? You’ve been doing it for years! And this one too. Thinks he can get in on it. Stevie and Daniel... they’re my _everything_. And you say you haven’t done anything.”

Fernando and Xabi glanced at each other, coming to the realization of what this was about at the same time. But Carra was distracted and they had to move fast. Xabi threw all his strength into pushing Carra back against the door frame, knocking the wind out of him and Fernando swung his gun at the side of Carra’s head. They didn’t stay behind to see if that knocked him out or not. Glancing at the front for only a second, he saw that the guard had opened deadbolt to let the people they were keeping hostage out and most likely had activated the silent alarm as well. But if the deadbolt was unlocked, then they could go out through the back. They already knew the route to safety from there, as they’d gone over it a hundred times in their plan. Fernando stopped running after a couple of blocks. They were on a quiet street with a small park for children, but there was no one around. A relatively wide stream with a cute looking bridge going across it ran through the middle of the park.

“Fernando, what are you doing? Let’s go!”

“Two minutes. Just give me two minutes.” He made a run for the park. Xabi stayed on the sidewalk to keep an eye out for danger. He really didn’t think this was the time to go play on a swing set but he had come to trust Fernando.

He saw two people he didn’t recognize, dressed in black, jogging their way and glancing around, looking for something. He glanced to see Fernando coming back, without his jacket, but didn’t question it just yet. They took off running again and didn’t stop until they were gasping, and their muscles ached for oxygen, sweat soaking through their shirts and other places they’d rather not admit they sweat in. They were in a bad part of the city now, so running away with someone chasing them wasn’t going to be the weirdest thing around. But no one was chasing them. Besides the two people in black, who they’d lost a long way back, they hadn’t seen anyone else following them. Most likely because Fernando must have knocked Carra out.

“The news,” Xabi said. “We need to see if the news is saying anything about the bank.”

Fernando nodded. They came across a small bar and grill that they could see had a flat screen installed through the window. It was a seriously questionable place, but they went in and sat at the bar anyways and ordered drinks they weren’t going to touch. The screen was showing highlights of the days football matches.

“Hey, mind switching to the news for a second,” Fernando asked the bartender. The bartender grumbled but switched the channel anyways. Just as expected, the bank was the headline. They listened closely but there was no mention of anyone being caught, so that ruled out the possibility of Carra being knocked out.

Xabi leaned in close. “Did you manage to get the diamonds?”

“Yeah.”

“Where are they? We could probably use them to make Carragher leave us alone.” _Maybe_ , Fernando thought. Though after the events of the day, he didn’t think that Carra was after the diamonds at all.

He was about to tell Xabi where he hid them when he saw a familiar face outside the window of the bar. The face saw him too.

“We gotta go.” He threw a wad of bills down and turned to the bartender. “This place got a back door?”

The bartender pointed to a corridor and they ran for it. Just as they opened it and ran out into the familiarity of an alley, they heard the chimes of the front door of the bar signalling it was being opened. Breaking out into a sprint, they headed in the opposite of the direction they had originally come in.

But luck loved them not for the second they reached the mouth of the alley they were blocked off by a black van and ambushed by the two men they saw looking for them before. Fernando elbowed the man who grabbed him in the nose. He staggered back and Fernando didn’t have a chance to recover, as he was distracted by the second man tasering Xabi in the gut. Xabi doubled over in pain and fell to his knees in a daze.

Fernando went to help him but his body stiffened like a board as he felt a thousand, a million, needles spread through his back sending fire to his nerve endings, incapacitating him completely. His muscles failed him and his knees buckled. He felt a hand in his hair that pulled his head up but he couldn’t see past the black dots clouding his vision. The hand pulled him by the hair onto the van and then retreated. Someone, most likely Xabi, was thrown in after him. The van door closed and they lay there groaning. The vehicle started moving, and the movement only further deteriorated their recovery, as the tires sunk into potholes or the van took sharp turns. Their muscles were twitching violently every few seconds.

“I don’t think tasers are supposed to be that strong,” Xabi moaned.

“They’re not,” Fernando mumbled in response.

The van stopped after a fairly short ride and the engine turned off. But no one came to get them out. They heard voices, slowly getting farther away from the van.

“We have to get out,” Fernando said. “Before they come back.”

“I can’t move.”

Fernando reached up into the darkness, his arm tingling painfully, and felt around until his fingers wrapped around the handle of the sliding door. He pulled as hard as he could, but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked.”

“Fuck.” Xabi tried stretching out his limbs, but his motor skills refused to come back to him. It was even taking all of his effort to speak. “Who were they?”

“Carra’s men.”

“You were right.”

Fernando frowned, squinting at Xabi’s dark silhouette. “About what?”

“We really are done for.”

Fernando shook his head, even though he knew Xabi wouldn’t be able to see it. “I thought we were going to fail. But we didn’t. We were stabbed in the back.”

He paused for a moment.

“How did Carra even get in?”

“He was already inside.” Xabi sighed. “Fernando...where are the diamonds.”

Fernando told him. “I doubt anyone will be able to find them. Maybe by an extremely lucky accident. But not if they were looking.”

The door of the van swung open, the daylight blinded them, and they were pulled out.


	8. Aesthetic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Present timeline
> 
> I can practically see Leo as James Moriarty and Xavi as Sebastian Moran who's with me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This hasn't been proofread because I have a calc test :(
> 
> But I'll read through it later and comb for mistakes.

“You got his brother killed, Leo? What the fuck were you thinking?"

"I did nothing of the sort. His brother got himself killed. It's not my fault that Sergio is blaming me."

"He was only sixteen."

Leo put down the glass he was holding so he could turn to Fernando and glare at him without spillage. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't think about it every fucking day? I told that kid to go home. I told him that there was no way I was hiring him. He showed up anyways and got caught in the crossfire and suddenly I'm the one to blame?"

Fernando sighed and took a seat next to Leo at the bar, his feet grazing the floor despite the bar stool being tall. "Well Sergio thinks you're to blame. And he wants you dead."

"I know."

"That's why you left isn't it? The real reason. Xavi made you go into hiding when he heard that Sergio was after you." Leo nodded in confirmation and Fernando was perplexed by how little Leo cared about his own wellbeing. "You shouldn't be out in the open like this. You need to go back into hiding _now_."

Leo shook his head. "I hate hiding. It's so boring."

"Then we kill him before he kills you."

"What good would that do? It would hurt Iker which would only hurt Cesc. And I've hurt you all too much already."

"It would hurt us more if you were dead," Fernando mumbled quietly.

"You'll get over it."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Leo downed the rest of his drink in one go.

"I'm sure Cesc would agree to killing him. He kind of already fucked it for himself by telling Iker he loved him."

"He did that?" Leo laughed. "Oh, Cesc. What am I to do with you?"

"Apparently it didn't go too horribly so... that's good I guess."

Leo didn't reply. But he was smiling at the thought of Cesc and his unpredictability.

"We're not going to let you die."

"If that's what it comes to, you won't have much of a choice."

"I already texted Xabi. I'm sure he and Cesc and Xavi and _everyone_ is going to agree with me on this, Leo. This Sergio guy has got to go. Whether you like it or not."

"If any of you do anything without my order, there will be consequences."

Fernando frowned, sick of the dramatic bullshit he always had to put up with. Whether it was Xabi's or Cesc's or Stevie's, he didn't care anymore. No more dramatics for him. He was done. "I think you forget I don't take orders from you anymore. So if Xabi tells me to kill him, I will kill him."

Leo narrowed his eyes at his empty glass, refusing to look at Fernando. It was clear that he wasn't very sober, but that wasn't going to stop him from being who he was. "In the end, you always listen to me. And won't be difficult to convince Xabi to leave this alone."

"What are you going to do?" Fernando spat. "Turn us against the people we love again? Or turn them against us? And then say that you're doing it with our best interests at heart? It's all bullshit, Leo, and we both know it. I don't care about why you're so set on him killing you but you should know that no one is going to let that happen. Just accept it."

Leo pursed his lips, still staring intently at the glass. He got up abruptly, swaying a little on his feet and walked away from Fernando and out of the bar without saying a word.

Fernando put money down, so the bartender who'd watched Leo leave without paying would stop giving him dirty looks, and followed Leo out.

He stayed a good distance behind and followed until Leo came to his old apartment building. The place he had stayed before he had left. He watched Leo go inside and stayed out on the street until he got a text from Xavi saying that he was safely inside.

Then he went home. Because he wasn't joking about being done with dramatic bullshit, and he was well over a day's quota for it.

\----

"Where have you been?" Xavi asked

“What’s it to you?”

“We should leave again, Leo. We shouldn’t have even come back.”

“Relax,” Leo said as Xavi helped his drunk ass into bed. “I’m in-fucking-destructible. Nothing can touch me.”

“Sergio has come pretty close a couple of times.”

“In-fucking-destructible, Xavi. Drill it into your brain.” Leo buried his face into the pillow. When he spoke again, his voice was muffled to a point where it was almost indecipherable. But Xavi had dealt with him enough times to understand. “Besides, I know you’d never let me die. You’d miss me too much.”

Xavi rolled his eyes. He’d been working as Leo’s right hand man for as long as they’d known each other. They had started out together and built everything they had together. So Leo was right. There was no way in hell Xavi was going to let anyone hurt him. He would definitely miss Leo. But that didn’t mean that Leo’s attitude towards things didn’t piss him off.

He didn’t have any say in Leo’s return. He’d managed to convince him to leave, but not to stay away. So in the end, he had no choice but to follow Leo back here to make sure nothing bad would happen. He’d been enjoying their time on their own, but the first thing Leo had done was go to Cesc.

Before, he wouldn’t have minded one bit. He knew the way Leo’s brain worked. He showed different people that he cared in different ways and sleeping around didn’t really mean much to him. Xavi knew Leo didn’t care for Cesc in _that_ way, because he slept with a lot of people and he certainly didn’t feel for all of them in that way. He knew Cesc too. And anyone who knew Cesc knew that he only felt _that_ way about one person.

It wasn’t even about the sleeping around. Xavi didn’t care about that, he really didn’t. He’d humored Leo greatly when he had started following Xavi around when they were younger. He didn’t expect anything in return for all that he’d done over the years they’d known each other. He didn’t want acknowledgement or a ‘thank you’. He just wanted Leo to be _not dead_ , just like everyone else, and Leo didn’t really understand that.

He couldn’t help feeling hurt. Leo had come back and apologized—in his own strange way—to everyone he had wronged, almost as if accepting his fate. He didn’t stop to think about how he had wronged Xavi. He didn’t stop to try and understand how Xavi felt—about this, about _everything_.

But that was just Leo. He never stopped to think, never bothered to understand. Xavi only wished that once—just _once_ —Leo would tell him how much he meant to Leo, what Leo thought, how Leo felt. He didn’t expect it, no. Of course not. Only wished.

If Leo didn’t get his fucking priorities straight and do something to help himself in this stupid fucking situation with this stupid fucking doctor, then all Xavi would be left with is wishes, and maybes, and what ifs.

And he wasn’t okay with that.

\----

“I followed the guy around all day and he did nothing! Like absolutely nothing. I swear he has to be the most boring person on Earth.”

“It was necessary, Stevie. We needed to know where he was at all times.”

“We don’t know where he is now.”

“Doesn’t matter. Xavi just texted me and said that Leo is safe. And Fernando was with him before that.”

“Let it be known I did _not_ waste my entire day keeping an eye on the whereabouts of Dr. Boring, for Leo.”

Xabi smiled. “Yeah? Why’d you do it then?”

“Because you threatened me with no sex,” Stevie grimaced. “You shouldn’t joke about sex Xabs.”

“It’s good to know that still works on you,” Xabi said. His tone was light but his demeanor—the aura he had been emitting—had been stiff and serious ever since Fernando had called to tell him that someone wanted to kill Leo and that someone was the doctor guy/the journal guy/Mr. Mystery Guy.

(Xabi really wasn’t sure what they should even call him anymore, Stevie suggested they just call him _The Guy_ but Xabi told him that was copyrighted by the _Spy Kids_ franchise and they wouldn’t want to get sued would they?)

Stevie didn’t like Leo. In fact he had disliked Leo from the very first time they met, _that day_ , when, for the first time of many, Leo had tried to keep him away from Xabi. Granted, that time it had been because Leo thought Stevie and Daniel would sell out Fernando and Xabi’s whereabouts to Carra, but even after that, Leo had continuously tried to keep them apart.

Yet, he couldn’t let those feelings of resentment haze his mind. Not after he’d watched Xabi’s face fall during Fernando’s phone call.

Dying was always a possibility. Or really an inevitability, in life. But getting _killed_ during or because of what they did in the lives they led, was even more inevitable than dying in general. Almost no one got out like Cristiano had and there was still a possibility that someone could come along from his dark past with a score to settle. There was no predicting what could happen.

But you never really think about how it would be for someone you know to die until that circumstance actually comes upon you. And despite seeing death around him so often, Stevie knew that Xabi didn’t want to see Leo dead, no matter what he’d done.

"He'll be fine, Xabi. I've been trying to get rid of him for years and he's still here so I doubt that this Sergio guy will be able to do what _I_ couldn't."

Xabi frowned at him.

"Not the right thing to say?"

Xabi shook his head. "Shut up, Stevie."

"You know I can't do that," Stevie grinned. "Come here, I'll take your mind off things."

"Not in the mood," Xabi mumbled.

Stevie sighed and crossed the room so he could wrap an arm around Xabi's waist. "We both know you're not going to let anything bad happen. You'll figure something out. Or we'll just go kill Sergio tomorrow."

"Leo doesn't want us to kill him."

"Good thing he doesn't make your decisions for you."

"Stevie I can't—"

"You can do whatever you want Xabi. You want him alive, you keep him alive by whatever means. He doesn't like it then he can deal with that on his own."

"Sergio's a doctor. He saves lives and shit. And there's Iker too. He'll be upset."

Stevie sighed in affection and kissed Xabi's cheek. "You do whatever you think is right. But right now, I know you're exhausted, so come to bed."

“Okay, let me just go check that the oven is off,” Xabi said pulling away. Stevie liked the thought of Xabi being so stereotypically wifey material sometimes. “Uh... Stevie?”

“Yeah?”

“Why is there a cup of coffee with silver glitter mixed into it by the sink?”

“Aesthetic.”

Xabi poked his head back into the bedroom. “What?”

Stevie rolled his eyes. “Get with the times Xabi, all the cool kids are doing it.”

\----

Iker and Cesc were in Iker’s office with the blinds drawn and the door locked and their tongues so far down each other's throats that they were both practically choking. They had only been at it for a few minutes when Iker pulled away abruptly.

"I-I can't."

Cesc glared at him. "Are you kidding me? You're the one who called me here."

"You're right." Iker pulled Cesc back to him, only to pull away again a few seconds later. "No I really, _really_ can't. Not while I'm still with Sergio. It's not fair to him."

Cesc rolled his eyes. "Fine. Call me when you come to your senses and finally dump him."

"Just wait a second." Iker’s glance fell to Cesc's lips, which were slightly swollen. He held onto Cesc's arms, not letting him leave. He kissed Cesc softly. "I'll do it soon. I promise. I just have to find a way that won't hurt him too badly."

"Why are you even doing this Iker? I thought you said you really like him."

"I really like you too."

Cesc shook his head and pouted. "How is that fair? To either of us. I mean I really don't give a shit about him but it makes me super sad to know you like someone else."

"But I like you more. It took me a while to realize it but I do. That's why I'm doing this. I still don't want to hurt him, though."

"Yeah well, hurt him or not, I don't care. But I can't deal with this drama right now."

(If Fernando had been there he would have punched Cesc in the face for even suggesting that _he_ was the one who dealt with drama when Fernando should—according to himself—be universally recognized and given an award for dealing with the most drama among his little group.)

(Everyone else collectively agreed that Fernando was the biggest drama queen they knew.)

(But they'd never say that to him because they care about him.)

Cesc decided that leaving at that moment was probably the best course of action. Staying would lead to something he knew Iker would end up regretting since he was still technically with Sergio. Neither of them wanted to start this—whatever _this_ even was—with regret.

Walking down small streets as shortcuts, he was making his way home when his vision went black. A hand came around to cover his mouth and he felt a pinch on the skin of his neck. He struggled furiously but his shoulder burned and his limbs became heavy. The hands holding him let him go and he landed on the dirty street.

"You'd be surprised how little they question a surgeon with my reputation when I decide to walk out with dangerously strong anesthetics," a voice said. It sounded far away and his vision was still completely pitch black.

"If you think," Cesc started, speaking slowly, "that Leo will come after you because of me, you're wrong."

"I _know_ he'll come for you. Not to save you. But to get this over with. And now none of your friends will try to kill me because they'll never find you if they do."

Cesc wanted to tell him off. But his throat refused to make any sound. He opened his mouth only for it to go completely dry. He didn't know what Sergio gave him but it must have been strong for it to work so fast. He found himself drifting off slowly, his shoulder still on fire, his thoughts on Iker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... I honestly don't know what I'm doing anymore. I have an end point in sight (y'all already know what it is ;)), there is just so much filler happening to get to that point.
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> P.S. Major warning on the next chapter for being super dark okay like I might have cried a little while writing it.


	9. Daniel wants a couples night with Fernando

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Past timeline.
> 
> Why Fernando and Xabi owe Leo their lives - Part Four - Daniel wants a couples night with Fernando

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cut out so much from this (basically all the torture up to the last little bit of their captivity) because I got so carried away.
> 
> I would have still posted it but on top of sending me to hell most probably it was also very badly written.

Fernando cried out in agony, squeezing his eyes shut, as the bat came into contact with his ribs for the countless time in...in...how long had he been here?

“Look at me,” Carra spat in his face. “Look at me you coward!”

Fernando refused to open his eyes. He didn’t want to see the blows as they came. He didn’t want to see Xabi’s slack body, his head hung in a way that made Fernando’s own neck hurt just from the thought of it. He didn’t want to see Carra.

He and Xabi were chained to the ceiling by their hands, arms stretched up into the air, their toes barely grazing the floor. The gags bound to their mouths had long chafed the corners of their lips and their cheeks.

Fernando’s denial to please Carra resulted in a swing of the bat to his gut. He wanted to throw up, but he’d emptied the contents of his stomach—hours, days, or weeks ago he did not know—so he could only choke up foul tasting bile that forced its way out of his mouth, past the gag and dribbled down his chin, joining the drool, vomit and blood already there.

He lazily opened his eyes, but he couldn’t focus his eyes on anything. Everything was just a blur of enigmatic colours, blending and then pulling apart. It was like watching a 90’s cartoon. He wished he was watching cartoons.

“You were so promising, Fernando. You were so magnificent. But you went and fucked it up because you couldn’t keep your legs shut.” Carra twirled the bat in his hand, turning to Xabi. “He only slept with Stevie. And only once or twice, right? So he gets to die faster.”

Carra came back his way.

“You, I’m keeping alive as long as I can. You’re going to pay for defiling them. Tempting Stevie and Daniel to betray me. Leading them down the wrong path.”

He looked at Fernando more curiously than menacingly, his eyes raking down the freckled body. The body he’d spent so much effort colouring red, blue and black—painting it like an artist does a canvas, trying to remember colours only a certain season could bring. But spring, summer, autumn, or winter, fifty shades of bruises that weren’t likely to fade, scars big or small, Fernando knew that look meant he was in for much more than mere physical torture. If he survived this, which wasn’t likely, he’d never truly recover. Even knowing that, he couldn’t stop the hysterical giggle that sounded out, muffled by the gag.

It was pathetic really, how far gone, how exhausted he was, that he couldn’t even hold his laugh in at Carra’s words.

His stream of thoughts consisted of everything he'd say to Carra if he wasn’t gagged, and Carra wasn’t holding him and Xabi in some weird torture dungeon.

 _Me? And defile Stevie?_ He couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying now. With tears rolling down his cheeks, he had no clue whether they were from his panic-stricken laughs, or the ache in his limbs.

Carra didn’t seem offended in the slightest. In fact, he looked pleased, as if it was his plan to turn Fernando into an emotional mess. Fernando saw Xabi stirring a bit—attempting to raise his head, groans coming from deep in his throat. His laughing ceased immediately. He didn’t want Carra mentioning anything about him sleeping with Stevie in front of Xabi. He didn’t want Xabi to hate him so close to death.

“You liked to be fucked don’t you Fernando?”

The blond shook his head in panic.

“Yes you do. How many of my people have you been through? I know you’ve sucked off at least half of them. Tried to turn them _all_ against me.”

Fernando kept shaking his head. _What does my sex life have to do with you not being able to keep people loyal to you?_ He wanted to say it. He really wanted to spit denials to all these psychopathic accusations back at Carra. _That’s it_ , he thought. _It’s because he’s a psychopath. He has no clue that what he’s saying makes no fucking sense. He’s absolutely fucking mental._

What else could it be? There was no other explanation.

“Sluts get what sluts deserve Fernando.”

Carra reached behind Fernando’s head and untied the gag. Fernando began coughing and Carra stroked his cheek lightly with the back of his hand.

“So promising,” he whispered.

“Carra...” Fernando croaked, his voice barely audible from having screamed his vocal cords raw. “Carra _please_ stop. I promise we haven’t turned anyone against you.”

Carra ignored him and moved out of sight. Fernando heard him in buckle his belt and unzip his fly. Xabi was staring at them wide eyed.

“No, please don't.” He struggled against the rope around his wrists. He tried kicking his legs but that only put more pressure on his shoulders, which were already bearing all of his weight. His joints ached at his futile attempts to get away from the pair of hands groping his hips. He’d rather Carra just kill him now. He’d rather endure more beatings and floggings. He wanted anything but humiliation.

“Is this how you thank someone who’s only trying to give you what you want?” Carra asked him, holding him still. He didn’t bother with any kind of preparation on Fernando’s part, only pushed in as roughly as he could. “You can’t tell me that you don’t want this. I know you do. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”

Fernando didn’t make a sound as Carra thrusted in and out without taking any care. He knew he was bleeding, he always did without enough preparation and lube. He wanted to scream, but he didn't let Carra have the satisfaction of knowing how degraded he felt. He only let silent tears run down his cheeks. When he eventually looked up towards Xabi, Fernando saw that he had his head turned away, and was grateful. Xabi understood. He understood what the ultimatum of all this was. And he knew Fernando wouldn’t want anyone to see him like this.

“I...wanted...to trust...you,” Carra said between violent and irregular thrusts. He grabbed Fernando’s throat with both hands, squeezing tight enough to make skin on Fernando’s face, that wasn’t covered in some kind of bodily fluid, turn red. “ wanted...to make... you...great...Couldn’t you just be fucking considerate? Couldn’t you be _grateful_?"

He pulled out suddenly and let go of Fernando’s neck causing him to pant frantically. Carra reached up and pulled the rope around Fernando’s hands off the hook on the low ceiling. Fernando fell at his feet, still panting and coughing, turning even redder from the rush of oxygen rather than from the lack of it.

Carra pulled him up the hair and shoved his cock in Fernando’s face, who kept his mouth shut, despite not being able to breathe very well from his nose. Carra forced his mouth open.

“If you bite,” he said, making Fernando take him in entirely, “I’ll bring Daniel down here and set him on fire in front of your eyes. I’ll make you watch him scream and turn to ash. And then it’ll be Stevie’s turn. I won’t have any regrets either, not if they’ve already chosen you over me. Now suck.”

Fernando was obedient. He had learned a long time ago, even before all of this, to not take Carra’s threats lightly.

Carra slapped him across the face as his teeth accidental grazed the skin. _Stevie used to like that_ , he thought bitterly, because he couldn’t stand to think about anything else. _Stevie liked it when I was sloppy._

He started crying again. If Carra removed his cock, Fernando’s sobs would fill the air. The tears stung his exhausted eyes. He hadn’t been lucky enough to pass out as much as Xabi did.

When Carra came inside his mouth, he attempted to swallow as much as he could without vomiting, not wanting to piss the man off anymore. But even as Carra’s cock became soft, he didn't take it out. Instead, he put one hand at the back of Fernando’s head, pushing as painfully deep down his throat as he could, and the used the other hand to pinch Fernando’s nose.

Panic rose in Fernando’s chest. He barely had any breath in him as it was, he raised his still bound hands to push Carra away but his arms were stiff and heavy—useless. His lungs were on fire, and his already cloudy vision began going black. There was ringing in his ears, and sounds beyond that. Sounds that were familiar. Maybe Xabi, maybe something else. He couldn’t figure it out before the world faded away.

\----

Xabi was struggling with all his might as Fernando went still. Carra let him go and he fell in a heap of limbs on the floor.

“Huh,” Carra said, “I thought he’d be able to hold it for longer.”

Xabi’s eyes welled up. He couldn’t tell if Fernando was breathing or not.

“You know, I wanted him to watch you die,” Carra walked over to a table on the side and picked up a simple dagger. “But I’m really sick of you already.”

Xabi hoped, wished, prayed, _begged_ for a miracle as Carra approached him.

“It doesn’t even matter really.” With a swift movement, the knife was buried deep into Xabi’s gut. He didn’t make a noise. He only resigned. He knew it was over, and nothing could save him now.

There was a commotion, it sounded far. Xabi didn’t care anyways. He was as good as dead.

“What the fuck is that?” Carra left the knife embedded in him and hurried out the door.

Xabi closed his eyes. He wasn’t going to be one of those people who died with their eyes open. That always looked ridiculous. He didn’t know if he could feel the physical pain or not. Mostly he could only feel the weight of his thoughts. Mostly those of Stevie. The man who made such a mark on him in less than three days. And he was paying the price for it. There were only two things left in his mind to hope for: he hoped Stevie would be okay, and he hoped Carra wouldn’t fuck his dead body.

“Shit!”

“Hey at least he’s not bleeding out, right? The knife’s keeping most of the blood in.”

“Yeah but he still might not survive. Not if there’s injury to major organs.”

“Then hurry the fuck up! You guys get the other one, and then come help me with this one.”

Xabi felt hands untying the ropes on his wrists and all of a sudden he felt the pain of the stab wound too. He jerked and fell to the ground, out of the arms of the person who was trying to hold him.

“That’s not good. _That is not good!_ ”

The hands turned him onto his back.

“Guys! Hurry, there isn’t much time!”

He felt pressure against the wound and cried out loudly. He hadn’t noticed that the gag was gone.

“It’s okay. You’ll have help soon. I told I’d be there when you needed me.”

Xabi writhed and groaned, not paying attention to the words being said to him.

“Okay, so maybe I could have come five minutes earlier. You can’t blame me for that though, it was all Cris’ fault. Something about his hair. But it’s totally fine! In the grand scheme of things you’ll look back at this and you’ll laugh. Or shudder at the memory. Or have a panic attack. That also only if you don’t die. Which you probably won’t. But you might. I’m sorry in advance if you do.”

“I don’t think he’s really listening, Leo.”

“I’m panicking, Xavi! I don’t usually _save_ people so this is a little new to me.”

“Let’s get him out of here.”

Xabi was lifted off the ground.

“Fernando?”

“In the car, with Cesc and Cris. Cesc kept saying something about how no one’s face should look so good even when bruised and bloody.”

“What else do you expect from Cesc. He’s pays attention to detail and in all the wrong ways. At least he’s not talking about their dicks.”

Xabi felt his shoulders lay on something firm but soft. He was mostly numb again. First not having felt pain because of the shock, and then feeling too much of it, now he was losing feeling in his body from the wound outwards. What he could feel was cold. He felt _so_ fucking cold.

“Can you hear that?”

“I think he’s saying that he feels cold.”

“Cesc—”

“Already on it.”

There was some warmth provided, but nothing to counter how cold he was feeling. He felt like the frostbite feeling was coming from within him somewhere. Maybe it was more psychological than physical.

He thought he was moving again. But the firm softness was still behind his shoulders. Light and shadows passed across his closed eyelids. The numb cold was everywhere now. It had taken over.

Why couldn’t he just die already?

\----

Fernando woke with a start. His eyes shot open and he couldn’t recognize his surroundings as he panted wildly and fought for breath. He couldn’t move either, which only raised the levels of panic. And all of a sudden he was choking. He didn’t know on what. No, he did know. He was choking on the vomit he was spitting up.

There were voices yelling in his ear. Telling him to hold his breath, otherwise the foul tasting substance would go down his windpipe. But he couldn’t fathom the thought. _Hold my breath? I can barely breathe already._

A firm grip had him turned over and the vomit emptied out of his throat, half on the floor, half in a bucket situated strategically by the bed he was on. _How did I get here?_

After he was done with that, he fell into a dazed state of exhaustion. He could feel hands cleaning him and putting him back into the position he’d been when he woke up. Something tightened over his legs, his wrists, his chest. It took a while for the haze to clear.

“Where am I?” He asked. Though he wasn’t sure who he was asking. There was a young man dressed in white hovering over him and another dressed in contrast in the corner of the room. A hospital, he guessed, by the sounds and smells that were slowly coming to him.

“You’re in the hospital,” the young man confirmed. “I’m your doctor.”

“No you’re not,” Fernando said. He tried shaking his head, but stopped when he felt dizzy. “You don’t look older than fifteen.”

“You have some serious brain damage due to oxygen starvation. It’s permanent in the physical sense. You might have some memory problems but other than that you should recover just fine.”

“Did you get into medical school when you were a baby?”

“The physical injuries on your body are quite extensive too. Five broken ribs—you’re lucky none of them pierced a lung—broken nose, both your shoulders were dislocated and I mean almost ripped out the sockets.”

“All the doctors I’ve been to are old.”

“Cuts, bruises, scratches covering your entire body but the worst were your wrists, and your stomach. Certain lacerations were made in a way that we couldn’t stitch up without risking muscle damage which is why we had to bind you.” That explained why he couldn’t move on his own when he needed to vomit. “You kept waking up in a hallucinated fever and thrashing about which in turn tore at the healing skin of your wounds, reopening them and we couldn’t risk that happening over and over again. We’ll unbind you once they’re healed enough or once you’re lucid enough. All those will probably scar, some nastier than others. Good news is that your face will heal really nicely. We set your nose back without need of reconstructive surgery.”

“I really wanted to be doctor when I was little,” Fernando mumbled quietly.

“Mr. Torres,” the young doctor said softly. His face had all kinds of worry written all over it. “Are you listening?”

Fernando grimaced at the formality.

“Yes,” he said. “But I don’t want to.”

The doctor nodded. “Understandable. Do you feel any pain?”

Fernando felt nothing. But he put on a great show and convinced the doctor he was, getting an increase of morphine flowing through his veins. It didn’t take long for him to pass out again.

\----

The next time he woke up, he definitely felt pain. His entire body ached and burned. He started sobbing. The man who’d been standing in the corner last time was still there. He didn’t say anything to Fernando. Only rushed out of the room and came back with the doctor and another man. A very familiar man. One that he’d been thinking about ever since he’d found out Carra had set them up.

“I can imagine you’re very sore right now, Mr. Torres,” the doctor said. He began checking the chart at the foot of Fernando’s bed.

“Please don’t call me that. Please. I might vomit again.”

“Don’t like your last name?” asked the short man from the day of the robbery, Leo or whatever.

“Don’t like formality. Where’s Xabi?”

“Straight to the point, huh?”

“Where. Is. Xabi?”

“He needed some time to rest after the surgery conducted when you two were first brought here.” It was the doctor who answered his question. “He just got out of the second surgery. He’ll make a full recovery.”

Fernando swallowed down a bit of his anxiety at hearing that. “And Carra? Is he dead?”

“Gosh no,” Leo said. “Not unless I wanted to start a war.”

“I think he still needs time to come to terms with everything,” the doctor said quietly to Leo.

“He’s been here for over a week now.”

“He really needs the time. Do you really expect him to get over what he’s been through in a _week_?”

Fernando didn’t like being talked about like he wasn’t there. But he only listened in.

The third man, who had only been observing thus far, joined into the conversation. “He’ll need time to trust us too. Won’t you, Fernando?”

He addressed Fernando directly, which made him feel nice. “I definitely don’t trust any of you. Especially not you.” He narrowed his eyes at Leo.

“See? Let’s wait until he and Xabi are feeling better and not so heavily medicated, and then we can talk to them in a _safe_ environment, where _they_ are comfortable _together_.”

Fernando liked this guy. He didn’t trust him. But he was the only one who was talking sense it seemed.

The doctor ushered Leo out. The other man went to the chair on the opposite side of the room and picked up a phone atop a pile of clothes.

“This is yours. At least I think it is, otherwise it’s your friends. I charged it and then turned it off because it kept going off and I didn’t know when you’d wake up.”

“It is mine,” Fernando said, reaching for it. “Thank you…”

“Cesc.”

“Thank you Cesc. Have you been here the entire time?”

“Around half of the time you’ve been here. I switch with Cris between you and your friend and sometimes Xavi or Leo take over whenever one of us went to get sleep. But Leo hasn’t trusted anyone else with protecting the two of you.”

Fernando frowned. He didn’t know what to think of this Leo guy. He’d helped them, but was so weirdly sketchy, that it completely warped Fernando’s opinion.

He turned the phone on and it was immediately flooded with voicemails and text messages.

He checked the voicemails first.

First one was from Daniel.

_Hey Nando call me when you get this. I wanna know how it went. I know this is a long shot but there's this sushi place I know that does this couple's night thing on Sundays and I know we’re not technically a couple but...well their food is really good and I don't really even know if you like sushi or not...whatever, forget it, just call me, yeah?_

Fernando’s breath hitched when he heard Daniel’s voice. There was a point during Carra’s torture, where he had tried to convince Fernando that Daniel was in on all of this, and when he thought that Fernando was out cold, he’d told Xabi that Stevie was in on it. He hadn’t believed it for a second, but listening to Daniels voice only made the reality of the situation, what had actually happened to him, that much more real. He was in the hospital, in pain, but he was still hoping that by some miracle he was here for some other reason. And that Daniel would come visit him. Stevie too.

But it wasn’t like that, and listening to the messages was only confirming it. He imagined that the realization was like getting hit in the stomach with a bat repeatedly—oh wait, he didn’t have to imagine. He _knew_ that the realization felt like getting hit in the stomach with a bat repeatedly.

The next voicemail was from Stevie _._

 _Fernando you dog! Carra just came to me, super pissed, saying that you ran away with the diamonds. Good for you man! Just, uh... cash in some of the wealth with me too would ya? I mean it’s only fair with how many times I’ve agreed to bone you even though you’re wayyy below my standards. Also, does Carra know about us? Because I think he mentioned something about it. Anyways, please tell me you took the diamonds_ with _Xabi and didn’t just dump him somewhere. He’s not answering his phone either. I think I’m running out of time on this thing. Is there a time limit? Whatever, I don’t care. Call back soon!_

The next one was Daniel again.

 _Carra just came to me. How stupid can you be? You really shouldn’t have done that. He won’t forgive you, not even if you bring them back, begging for your life._ *muffled cursing* _Are the diamonds really worth it? For you to just take off and leave everything behind? Just...forget it. I don’t know what you were thinking and I don’t want to. Let me know if you’re okay, please._

He didn’t want hear their voices anymore. And the texts were much of the same.

Stevie

_Where are you?_

_Got a job, need you and your computer._

_Where are you?_

_Oh, so now that you’ve got diamonds, you don’t need friends?_

_Is Xabi okay? Is he with you?_

_You two have a nice fucking life. I don’t fucking need this bullshit._

_Now I’m actually getting worried._

_Fernando please reply._

And so on. The messages got more and more frantic until Fernando couldn’t read them anymore either. Daniels texts weren’t any better.

_I’m sorry if that was too forward or anything. I just really want to take you out._

He skipped to the bottom after seeing that one. The last one had been sent only fifteen minutes prior.

_If you want me to stop just say so. Otherwise I’ll keep messaging you._

Against better his better judgment, he sent one back.

_I’m sorry. Please don’t go._

Within thirty seconds his phone was ringing. Cesc, who had been looking out the window turned to him and raised a brow as Fernando answered the call. Then he left the room and closed the door to give Fernando privacy.

“Fernando? Are you okay? Where are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Where are you?”

“You have to stay away from Carra he—”

“Tell me where you are!”

“Danny listen to me, Carr—”

“I don’t care about Carra, where are you?”

Fernando sighed. “At a hospital.”

“Which hospital?”

“I-I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Okay, it doesn’t matter. I’ll find you.” Daniel hung up. Fernando sighed. He might as well call Stevie as well.

“I thought I said I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I wouldn’t know, I didn’t check all your messages.”

“Well then check them and don’t call me again.” The call ended. But the phone rang again soon after. Fernando answered “...you sound awful by the way.”

“How long has it been?”

“You mean since you left me all alone? Do you not fucking know?”

“The oldest messages are around a month back but…”

“It’s exactly a month today. And if you see Xabi, tell him he’s not that good in bed anyways. And I hope the two of you live happily ever after with your fucking diamonds.” Stevie hung up again. It took him a full minute to call back the second time. “What happened Fernando?”

“We got caught.”

“By the police? There was nothing on the news.”

“No, by Carra. We were running from him and he caught us.”

“But he said—”

“I know what he told you, but I swear he’s _lying_. He tortured us Stevie, he tried to kill Xabi.”

“H-he what?”

“Xabi’s fine. Or so I’m told.”

“Told by who? And what about you, are you okay?”

“A doctor, and no, no I’m not. I don’t think I’ve ever been in this much pain.”

“Are you at a hospital? Which one?”

“I don’t—”

“Whatever I’ll find you.”

“Stevie wait!”

“What?”

“I-I don’t think you should try to find us just yet. You should call Daniel and get him to stop looking too. I don’t even think I should have even called you.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“The guys who—the people who helped us. I think they’re from a rival gang. They’ll kill you two if you show up.”

“Why would they help you then?”

“I don’t know yet but I don’t think we’ll have the chance to find out if something goes south.”

“I have a bad feeling about this…”

“I do too, but...you trust me right?”

Stevie sighed. “I’ll call Daniel but I don’t think it’ll be easy to convince him. He’s been horrible without you around.”

Fernando couldn’t stop a grin from forming on his face. “Really?”

“That’s not a good thing, Fernando! Wipe that shit eating grin off your face!”

“You’re right I’m sorry.”

“Just keep me updated alright? If anything goes wrong, if they try and give you any trouble at all…”

“I’ll let you know.”

Talking to Daniel and Stevie was like a breath of fresh air for Fernando. He wanted to call Cesc back into the room and demand an explanation but sleep was slowly beginning to take over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Questions? Predictions?


	10. Don't Fear the Reaper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Present timeline.
> 
> Nobody wants to believe that Cesc might be in trouble.
> 
> Stevie and Daniel have a dirty little secret.
> 
> (But not like in a sexual way don't worry they're faithful.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope this chapter makes up for the long wait.
> 
> Don't hate me :(

Xabi eyed himself in his mirror. There was an indistinct layer of steam that was barely noticeable on the glass. He could see himself clearer than he wanted to. He'd caught his reflection by accident and now, standing in nothing but a towel with the bathroom door wide open, he glared at the scar just below his rib cage. He raised his fingers, as if to touch the raised skin and then dropped his hand back down to his side. There was some movement behind him.

"What's wrong?" Stevie asked. Xabi tore his eyes away from the scar and raised them to meet Stevie’s in the mirror.

"Nothing," he said. He tried to put finality into his tone, so Stevie would drop the subject, but his voice broke slightly.

Stevie put a hand on Xabi's shoulder. "Then why are you glaring at yourself like that?"

Xabi let his eyes fall to the scar again and didn't look back up. Stevie moved his hand down from Xabi's shoulder to his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Do they still come back to you? The memories?"

"Sometimes. I think Fernando got the worst of it though."

Stevie scoffed. "You got stabbed."

His other hand went around Xabi's waist and lightly stroked the skin under his ribs.

"I mean in general. He was awake more often than I was. And Carra only liked tormenting us when he could clearly see how much pain we were in."

Xabi watched Stevie’s fingers and felt them ghost over the scar. He thought it was the ugliest thing ever. He hated how it had turned an ugly dark colour—not even a darker shade of his own skin, but more like a terrifyingly horrible grey. He hated how he could see where the stitches had been crudely placed because of the jagged nature of the knife. He hated how, despite the fact that it had healed years ago, he could practically feel it throbbing at any mention of Carra. He hated everything it reminded him of.

He hated the fact that Stevie thought he should wear it proudly—that it only showed how strong he was and how much he'd been through. Stevie always said that it showed how nobody should mess with him, because he was a survivor. And no one wins against a survivor. Xabi always disagreed. He personally believed that Stevie should just stop trying to make him feel better if it meant he was going to lie. Stevie insisted he wasn't lying every time. And then that was usually the point that they'd get into a fight and ignore each other for a day or two until one of them broke and asked for forgiveness.

That didn't happen this time. This time, Stevie only kissed him on the nape of his neck, and pulled back, leaving Xabi alone with his thoughts.

He got dressed quickly. Leo had asked him to meet up at Cesc's place, said it was urgent. Xabi hoped it was about him coming to his senses and letting them take out the doctor that was out for his blood. But he doubted it.

He cursed himself for getting involved with some of the most stubborn people on Earth. Leo, Fernando, Cesc, everyone. So fucking stubborn. He hated that too. He hated a lot of things, more so lately than he had before. Maybe he was becoming a bitter old man. Soon enough he'd be yelling at kids to get off his lawn. Even though he lived in an apartment and therefore had no lawn. Maybe he'd buy a house with lawn just for that purpose.

He pushed the crazy thoughts out of his mind, reminding himself that the skin on his face was less wrinkled than anyone could hope for and he wasn't _that_ old. Not really.

When asked if he wanted to come, Stevie made up some dramatic story about how he had promised he'd take Daniel to get his nails done.

"You just don't want to see Leo."

"Well, yes. That and the fact that I made a commitment to Daniel and my cuticles really are a horrible sight."

"A straight answer—a normal fucking conversation for once—wouldn't kill you."

"I don't know what you mean." Xabi shook his head and accepted Stevie's kiss before he left.

 _When did we become so fucking domestic?_ He pondered that thought for a moment before he countered his own argument.

_We were always like that. It's just strange to be doing it again._

He was left wondering about how quickly he had let Stevie back into his life, and now it was as if the man had never left. Had he forgiven Stevie? He didn't know. Maybe. Could he really stay mad? He didn't know that either. He didn't want to. Ignoring all that was much easier. He wasn't the type to bring those kinds of things up and neither was Stevie. They were both the 'sweep it under the rug and forget about it' kind of people. Maybe that's why it was so easy to tolerate each other.

Xabi could never be with someone like Cesc. Cesc wanted to talk about everything all the time and milked even the tiniest details of a situation until he had squeezed out every bit of emotion he possibly could and that _killed_ Xabi. Of course he cared about Cesc, but he dreaded being left alone with him when he was super emotional or if—heaven forbid—he was somehow the reason Cesc was emotional. Once, Xabi accidentally knocked over a tower of cards that Cesc had been building and ended up having to listen to an account of every single incident in which Xabi had wronged Cesc in the past.

But that wasn't nearly as bad as Fernando. Cesc could be easily consoled or distracted, but Fernando bottled everything up with a lid that didn't fit properly and let everything overflow. He'd pretend that he didn't give a shit but his mood always reflected exactly what he was feeling and none of it was ever good. Just like how he told everyone he didn't care for Daniel and ran then ran to the man in question every chance he had. Those overflowing feelings of his couldn't be consoled. Since he liked to pretend he was indifferent to everything around him, he never talked his emotions through and hardly ever got over them. No, Xabi could never deal with someone like Fernando.

And don't even get Xabi started on Leo. Did Leo even have any emotions aside from super sarcastic or downright scary angry? Xabi didn't want to find out.

Stevie was perfect for him. Of course it wasn't healthy that neither of them ever wanted to talk about their issues, but they could make it work. Xabi would make sure that they would make it work. What other choice did they have? Talk things through? Solve their problems? Of course not. That's ridiculous.

Xabi reached Cesc's apartment only to find the door wide open. He went in apprehensively, pulling his gun from his belt, not seeing or hearing anything that would tell him that there was anyone in there. The place seemed empty. He dropped his guard and turned around to face the door, which was still open to the hallway.

 _That's weird_ , he thought, stupidly scratching the side of his head with the weapon, an even dumber looking expression set on his face.

A hand heavily deposited itself on his shoulder and he whipped around, jumping back at the same time, which put his leg in an awkward position, causing pain to shoot up his thigh. His gun found proper aim towards its target, but he quickly realized that it was just Fernando standing there with a surprised look and his hands in the air.

"Shit Xabi! What are you doing?" Fernando scowled at him. " _Were you just about to shoot me?_ "

"Don't sneak up on someone with a gun and you won't get shot idiot." Xabi reached his hand down to rub the area around his gunshot wound slightly in an attempt to alleviate the pain in any way.

"I'm the idiot? You're the one who just had the gun against your own head."

"I had an itch!"

"You have hands!"

"Just drop it," Xabi said, putting his gun back into his belt. "Where's Leo? Why'd he call me here?"

Fernando sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Cesc isn't answering his phone. Leo thinks he's missing, but I just think he's avoiding us."

"He hasn't been here all night," Leo said, coming into the apartment and shutting the door behind him. He joined Fernando and Xabi in the middle of the room. "The guard on the night shift said he didn't show up all night."

Xabi gritted his teeth. "I swear if this is just theatrics—"

"I don't think so," Leo said, cutting him off. His expression turned dark. "But I do think I know exactly what happened."

"You can't possibly mean—"

"Leo he's an amateur—"

Leo held up his hand to the two and they became quiet.

"It's obvious. Don't even try to deny it. I'm going to—"

"We can't just jump to conclusions," Xabi said, with a strange feeling developing in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't tell if it was stress or worry or both. He was sure that Cesc was fine. Cesc was always fine. There was no reason he needed to worry or be stressed over Cesc. Everything was fine.

"He's probably just with Iker and doesn't want to be disturbed," Fernando added. Sure, he was slightly skeptical about the situation, but Cesc had disappeared before and he always came back in one piece—usually sporting a golden tan a weird sex glow. It wasn't that big of a deal.

But then someone knocked on the door. Fernando walked up to it and his hand hesitated over the knob as he looked through the viewing hole.

"Fuck," he whispered to himself before forcing himself to swing the door open and reveal Iker on the other side. Needless to say, Iker was pretty much just as surprised to see the trio in Cesc's apartment, as they were haunted by the realization that something might be seriously wrong.

"Is Cesc here?" Iker asked. "He's not answering my calls."

Leo and Xabi shared a worried look. Leo's expression changed to an 'I fucking told you so' and Xabi's contorted into one that was determined to believe that Cesc really was fine. He couldn't deal with the thought that Cesc wasn't fine.

Fernando was about to make up an excuse but Leo beat him to the punch.

"Your boyfriend wants me dead and he kidnapped Cesc to try and piss me off."

Fernando shot a glare over his shoulder at Leo, who only shrugged. Iker frowned, confused.

"What?"

"You heard me."

The look on Iker's face became indecipherable. He backed away from the door slowly, and then turned all at once to leave.

Fernando followed quickly, trying to grab onto Iker’s arm to stop him. "Iker, don't try to confront him on your own. You don't know what he could do and we're not even sure that he has Cesc."

Iker snatched his arm away and continued to the elevator. Fernando swore under his breath but didn't try to stop him again. He could hear Leo and Xabi arguing about who was right.

"I'm telling you, this is all just a joke to him. He'll be back in a couple of days."

"If I'm right, which I am, he doesn't have a couple of days for us to wait around and see if he'll show up. Besides, I've known him longer than you. He doesn't just disappear. He always lets someone know."

"Well then you obviously don't know him as well as you think you do because he's disappeared countless times without telling anyone."

"Have you ever thought that maybe you're just not the person that he tells when he's leaving?"

They were both spitting in each other’s faces by the time Fernando re-entered. They turned their heads to him and he held up his hands as if to say that he wanted to be left out of it.

Xabi shook his head and walked past Fernando to the door. He left without uttering another word.

"I'm serious Fernando," Leo said. His expression has all kinds of worry written over it and Fernando didn't doubt that he truly believed that Cesc was in some kind of trouble. "Sergio took him."

But Fernando shared Xabi's opinion in this situation. It was far more plausible at this point. There was no evidence to suggest that Sergio was even capable of getting a punch in on Cesc in a fight much less be able to kidnap him. "We can't know for sure unless we eliminate all other possibilities. Cesc _is_ known for being unpredictable at the worst of times. Maybe someone pissed him off enough for him to leave for a few days. Who knows? But we can't just automatically assume the worst."

"Sergio's trying to get to me!"

"Let’s not forget that you're practically out to get yourself killed. Last night you were all but ready to stand in front of him and hand him a gun. How are we supposed to believe that you're not just making excuses?" Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. It seemed to knock Leo back a few mental steps.

"If you don't care enough about Cesc, fine. I'll find him myself."

"Leo you know that's not what this is about. And if Sergio is really involved, then this is obviously a trap." But it was too late.

Leo was gone.

\----

He went to see Cris. Well, technically he wanted to talk to James, but James wasn't home so he used the excuse of visiting Cris to stay and wait.

"How long have you been back?" Cris asked him.

"A couple of weeks."

"Weeks?" Cris frowned. "And you're just coming to see me now?"

"Been busy,"

"Yeah," Cris scoffed. "That's a valid excuse."

"Well, I'm here to see you now."

"Don't even try to lie to me, Leo. I know you're here to interrogate James about Sergio."

"Am not!"

"Fernando already called and warned me."

"He's lying."

Cris rolled his eyes. "I can tell you right now that James isn't in on whatever you think Sergio has done. He's been staying out of it as much as possible ever since Sergio's brother died. Don't drag him into this."

"I'm not dragging him into anything. I just need to know where Sergio might possibly hide someone that he might possibly have kidnapped and James is my best bet." Leo's phone had been buzzing nonstop in his pocket but he ignored it. It was probably Xavi.

"That's still getting him involved. I don't want him to have any part in this."

James chose that moment to come in through the front door. He walked into the living room and spotted Leo on the couch next to Cris and froze in the doorway, frowning.

"I don't know anything," he said gruffly, obviously annoyed. "So don't even bother asking."

"Does Sergio by any chance have a secret cottage in the middle of a creepy forest somewhere? Or is there maybe an abandoned warehouse that he frequents?"

James narrowed his eyes. "Like I said, I don't know anything. I haven't taken part in any of his crazy schemes since the last time and I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon. You're on your own."

"He has Cesc."

"What?!" Cris exclaimed.

James only smirked and shook his head. "I know that you don't know that for sure. You're just taking a shot in the dark, and it's only going to add more fuel to the fire."

"Tell me where he might hide Cesc."

"You should never have come back. You realize that, don't you?"

"Stop avoiding the topic."

"James..." Cris addressed the man, who hadn't yet moved from the doorway. "Are you sure you don't know where Cesc might be."

James gave Cris an apologetic look. "No. I'm sorry. I really don't."

"Fucking hell!" Leo shot up abruptly. "I need to find him."

He pushed past James and all but fled out the door to his car. A voice called to him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Wait!" James appeared behind him. "I know Sergio is at the hospital right now. He won't try anything over there that would put his job in jeopardy. If you approach him in the least threatening way possible, he might listen to you."

"Why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?" Leo asked.

"Because at the end of all of this, one of you will be dead. And I don't want it to be him but I also know that your friends won't let it be you. So I'm telling you this in hope that if something goes wrong, you won't kill him."

"I'll think about it." Leo pulled open his car door and got in, James' glare following him out of the driveway.

\----

Iker didn't really know what he was going to say or do once he got to the hospital. He had spent a couple of hours trying to figure it out and then scrapped every idea when he reached the parking lot. This was too stressful. He couldn't handle this. He couldn't—but he had to. Cesc's life might be at stake.

Ever since Cesc had left him the night before, he couldn't help but feel horribly stupid for never realizing how deep his feelings really went or how he could have ever thought that he liked Sergio more than Cesc. Because he was so sure now that he didn't even remember what doubt felt like. He was so sure.

Could this be partly his fault? That Leo guy had said that Sergio had kidnapped Cesc to piss him off but was it possible that Sergio had felt the distance between them lately? Did he notice, like just about everyone else, Cesc's feelings for Iker? He didn't want that to be true.

But if Sergio felt as strongly about him as Iker thought he did, and wasn't as crazy as this whole situation made him out to be, then maybe he would let Cesc go if Iker plead a decent enough case. If he promised to stay with him and never talk to Cesc again, maybe that would be enough for Sergio, and even though Iker wouldn't have Cesc as his own, Cesc would be safe and well. That was likely, right? He felt he knew Sergio well enough to assume that was true.

 _Yeah_ , he thought. _That's what I'll do. I'll convince him somehow and there will be no blood shed._

That was his plan. He told himself it would work perfectly. That it was foolproof. But he didn't make a move to get out of the car anytime soon.

\----

"I don't remember this place smelling so dank," Stevie said, pulling up the neckline of his shirt over his nose.

Dan scrunched his own nose in agreement. "He's been on a bender recently. Or so I've been told."

"Well, I think I'd rather him be a docile drug addict than what he was before."

They climbed the stairs of a house they hadn't been to in ages. There were plenty of sounds coming from the doors near them, some more provocative than others, probably all from people that they knew. Stevie and Daniel looked at each other and shrugged. They headed straight for the last door on the second floor, the quietest one, and pushed it open slowly. A loud creak resounded around them and a figure on the bed situated in the corner raised their head to look at their visitors. The room smelled worse than the rest of the house. The stench of cigarettes, weed, body odour and most likely decaying food harshly invaded their noses. It was so ripe that their eyes began to water.

The figure sat up in bed completely and frowned. "Where have you guys been? I've been waiting for ages."

Stevie cleared his throat and approached the bed. "What are you talking about Carra? You saw us just yesterday."

The lie flowed easily and a dopey smile stretched onto Carra's face. "Right, of course. I totally forgot."

He looked like death. Stevie and Daniel couldn't tell if it was because Carra was practically the grim reaper with how many lives he took, warping their image of him, or because it looked the like the actual grim reaper might be coming for him.

Daniel stayed where he was, not wanting to come into the room, not only because of the smell, but because unlike Stevie, he'd been subject to Carra's torment more times than he could count. So he couldn't be as passive about this as Stevie was. He couldn’t accept that Carra really was far gone and it wasn't just an act to keep them around. Stevie wasn't so sure he bought it either. But there was just something that told him it was too real to be an act.

Stevie winced when Carra reached up and took hold of his hand. "Is it true Stevie? The other guys keep telling me I'm dying. That I need to choose someone to take over before I'm pushing daisies."

They'd had this conversation before. They'd had this conversation three times the last time Stevie and Daniel came to see him. That was almost two months ago. The guy just refused to drop dead.

"Yeah, you are. You have an inoperable brain tumour. Don't you remember?"

Carra shook his head. "If I'm really dying, then I choose you two. You guys have to take over after me."

Daniel scoffed. Carra ignored him. Or he hadn't noticed.

Stevie sighed and pulled his hand out of Carra's grip. "We can't."

Carra frowned. "Why not? I trained you both myself. I know you're capable."

As if to remind them of its presence, Carra's heart monitor skipped a beat, displaying a solid red line for a few seconds making both Stevie and Dan suck in a sharp breath. Not in worry, but in anticipation. They might even call it hope. But there was no such luck. Carra's expression faltered just a little before the monitor began beeping methodically again and it didn't seem like Carra had noticed anything at all had happened.

"We don't want the responsibility. There are others far better for the position."

"No, only—"

"Just drop it," Dan snapped. "We're not doing it."

Carra looked over at him, his expression dark and hostile. "I'm not dead yet Danny. Don't forget that."

Daniel took his first steps into the room. "You can't control us anymore. You can't hurt us. After everything you've done to us, how can you possibly think we'd do anything you ask us to."

Carra regarded him with a glint in his eyes. "What exactly have I done to you, Daniel? I gave you a place in my gang, a home when you had none. I showed you the right path every time you began to stray off onto the wrong one. I disciplined you when you needed it. Removed that awful Fernando from your life."

"Shut up!"

Carra turned to Stevie. "You're grateful, aren't you Stevie? You were always the good one, never disobeying me like Danny always did. It's not your fault Fernando and Xabi manipulated you. But I'm sure you're glad that I took care of them."

Stevie’s hands curled into fists at the mention of Xabi. Carra was so confusing. At one second, it seemed like he had become a total dud. He couldn't remember a thing. And at others, it seemed like he remembered everything—knew all that went on around him. That made Stevie and Daniel so sure he was faking sometimes.

But then there we're so many things that were off. Holes. Carra seemed to think that he'd gotten rid of Fernando and Xabi. He didn't remember Leo and his guys ambushing him. He talked as if he had always treated Stevie and Daniel the same way, when in reality, Daniel had always drawn the shorter straw. It attested to why Stevie could stand to be so close to Carra and Daniel couldn't even be in the same room without wanting to vomit.

Stevie never really understood how it felt. He knew it had been bad, but he never knew how bad it really was. He'd asked at first, and then stopped when he realized Daniel wouldn't say anything. Fernando had gotten the tiniest little hint to it when he'd helped treat the lashes on Dan's back, the scars of which were long overdue to fade. Even if Stevie asked Xabi or Fernando, they immediately clamped up about it, so never pushed for an answer, not wanting to breach any boundaries.

Dan stormed out of the room and Stevie followed grabbing his arm and pushing him against one of the doors near the stairs.

"What the hell Danny? I thought we had made a collective decision that we were going to be calm and civil."

"I can't be civil to that monster."

The door opened and Daniel almost fell back into the room it led to, but a pair of hands helped him regain his balance.

"Oh hey. You guys came." It was a guy they had once worked with. He'd been designated as Carra's sole caretaker a long time ago. "I honestly didn't expect you to."

"We got your message," Dan grumbled. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to tell you guys that it should be any day now. Doctor that came and checked up on him earlier said that he should have been dead for weeks now. Don't know what's keeping him to be honest."

"Maybe it's on a subconscious level," Stevie said. "Since he hasn't picked someone to take over after he's gone."

"Oh he's picked someone. Got it on video for proof too in case anyone chooses to challenge it."

"What?"

"He chose someone."

"Who?"

"Don't know him personally. Carra might not remember it but the guy agreed so it's pretty much a done deal. I don't really care. I'm out of this town the second he stops breathing."

Stevie looked at Daniel, only to find his friend with a strangely thoughtful expression on his face. Without warning, Daniel strutted back into Carra's room. Before Stevie or the other guy could react to Dan's strange behaviour, they heard the distinct sound of a gunshot and the telltale unwavering beep of the heart monitor. There was a dreadful unity in the sound, unlike a siren undulating—it had no beginning and no end. A sound that most associated with death.

Both their jaws dropped as Daniel came back out, walking slowly. He didn't meet their eyes.

"Makes everyone's life easier doesn’t it?" He didn't get a reply. He didn't expect one. He put his gun into his belt. There were droplets of blood on one side of his face—as if he'd turned it so he wouldn't have to face what he was doing—and some that weren’t too noticable on his dark jacket. He turned to the guy, who was still slack jawed, probably wondering why he hadn't just done that himself. "The guy that's taking over, what's his name?"

"Um, I don't know. Why?"

Daniel shrugged, still refusing to make proper eye contact. "It's always good to know who is in power. Especially new people who come into old power."

"I'll ask around. I'll tell you guys if I find out anything."

Daniel nodded. He started heading down the stairs with Stevie following behind him, shooting worried looks at the back of his head.

When they were both outside onto the remote street, Daniel turned around and faced Stevie.

"What?" He asked harshly.

Stevie pursed his lips and shook his head. He used his sleeve to wipe Carra's blood off Daniels face and then pulled him into an embrace. Daniel remained stiff.

"Fernando's friend..." Daniel gritted his teeth. "The one he used to sleep with. That was you."

"What gave me away?"

"This was the first time I heard Carra mention Fernando being as much of an issue with you for him as Xabi."

"Are you mad?"

Daniel sighed and returned the embrace. "No. Fernando told me it didn't mean anything to him."

Stevie chuckled. "Well I'm definitely heart broken. I have to say I was quite fond of his ass. And his mouth to be honest. Fuck the things he can do with that mou—"

Daniel pushed away Stevie roughly and began walking away. "Too far, asshole."

Stevie laughed loudly, taking his time in sauntering after Dan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Concerns? Did I surprise you guys or did you expect it?


	11. Just imagine Fernando in a wheelchair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Past timeline.
> 
> Why Fernando and Xabi owe Leo their lives - Part Five - Just imagine Fernando in a wheelchair

The next time Fernando woke up, it was Leo who was sitting next to the bed.

“I want to know what’s going on,” he said, ripping Leo from his thoughts. He tried to raise his head but it felt too heavy.

“All in good time,” the man said. Fernando scoffed.

“I want to know _now_.”

Leo sighed. “This conversation should probably take place with Xabi present.”

“Then take me to him.” But he couldn’t move any of his limbs. He had no doubt that he was pumped full with drugs, despite the pain he was feeling.

“James is right, you should rest.”

“I don’t want to,” Fernando said, trying to sound menacing. But he only sounded like he was whining. He hated being in such a vulnerable position. “And who the fuck is James.”

“Dr. Rodríguez, the doctor who you apparently called a child,” Leo laughed.

“You can’t keep us captive in a public hospital.”

“No one is keeping you captive, you can leave at any time you want. But at the same time, you aren’t exactly physically _able_ to leave, are you?” Fernando’s ribs throbbed at the mention of moving.

“Then why do you have people making sure we don’t leave.”

“They’re here to make sure Carragher doesn’t send someone to finish off the job. Or come himself to do it.” Leo leaned in close. “I understand that you have no reason to trust what I’m saying, but I promise you that no one is going to hurt you on my watch. The only ulterior motive here is that I want you to join us.”

Fernando frowned. “Join you?”

“Yes,” Leo said brightly. “Work for me. Instead of Carragher.”

“Oh so you expect me to believe that you don’t want something more. Like the diamonds.”

“If I remember correctly, I'm the one who told you _not_ to steal them. This could have all have been avoided if you’d just listened to me.”

“Why would I have listened to some random crazy guy on the street?”

“I don’t know but it would have ended better for you than listening to your _psychopathic_ boss.”

Fernando did not appreciate this stranger accusing him of being wrong for being loyal. No matter what this stranger had done for him.

“I’m not going to work for you.”

Leo narrowed his eyes at Fernando.

“Don’t. Like I said, no one is forcing you. But the least you could do is thank me.”

“I didn’t ask for your help.”

“Would you rather I have let him continue? Xabi would be dead if I hadn’t decided I wanted you two. And you’d still be in Carra’s little sex torture dungeon. I wouldn’t have bothered saving the two you if I didn’t think you’d be of use to me. I wouldn’t have wasted my fucking time.” He got up abruptly and walked to the door, turning back the last second. “By the way, Xabi’s already accepted my offer. It would be in your best interest to as well.”

Later when the Dr. Rodríguez came to check up on him, he convinced the young doctor to have him taken to Xabi, who was still in intensive care. He ended up bundled in a wheelchair, in some serious pain and not enough medication in his veins, as a nurse wheeled him to the ICU, followed closely by Cesc. Fernando had tried to turn up the valve attached to his IV but the nurse had slapped his hand away and lectured him on morphine addiction. He hadn’t really listened.

Fernando found out from Cesc that he was at St. Joseph's hospital, which he'd heard of before It was fairly close to where he lived but not technically in the territory he was allowed to go in while working for Carra. The boundaries for said territories usually differed depending on which gang you asked.

Xabi was awake when he arrived.

“Have you spoken to Stevie?” He asked. “I read his texts but I didn’t call him.”

“Yeah I talked to him,” Fernando said. He watched Cesc cross over to who a guy who was watching over the room. He assumed that was Cris, since Cesc had mentioned the name. He saw no nurses in sight so he reached up to his IV bag and turned the little valve to speed up the morphine as he spoke to Xabi. “Told him not to come.”

“You’re gonna take up the offer, right?”

Fernando sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

Xabi regarded him curiously. “Well you can’t go back to Carra. Unless you’re suicidal or something. So you might as well.”

_Might as well._ Fernando wasn’t so sure. He didn’t think he could stand to try and trust someone new right now. He was still sure that this Leo guy probably just wanted the diamonds or something.

“I don’t know,” he said quietly.

“Maybe you should give it a try. We’re not being forced into anything. You could probably leave anytime.”

Fernando didn’t reply.

“Change doesn’t have to be bad, Fernando.”

“Guess not. I-I’ll think about it.”

“Well, you look like shit.”

“So do you!”

“Yeah but I probably look better than you.”

“Whatever, I’ll probably have cooler scars than you.”

“You wish. You haven’t seen my stab wound,” Xabi said, laughing softly. Technically, he hadn't seen his stab wound either because he could barely raise his head off the pillow, but a nurse had told him it was gruesome so it was probably cool. But his expression quickly turned serious. “You should say yes, Fernando.”

“Aren’t you worried what Stevie will think?” Fernando teased, trying to get Xabi off the topic.

But Xabi just shook his head. “It shouldn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Besides he, and your Daniel, can’t expect us to stay after what happened. We’ll both die if we stay anyways.”

“I don’t mean that. Of course we can’t stay. I meant, what will they think about us working for someone else?”

“Again,” Xabi said, “it shouldn’t matter.”

Fernando nodded. He’d gotten used to the way Xabi worked with decision making, and he had to say that Xabi made sense. It was a wonder he had ever made any decisions at all without Xabi there.

Leo entered the ICU with a man neither Fernando nor Xabi recognized so this must have been the Xavi that Cesc had also mentioned. Leo motioned Cesc and Cris over to where Fernando and Xabi were. They closed the curtains around Xabi’s bed, for privacy. Xabi couldn’t wait until he was well enough to be moved to a private room. Everyone the ICU was old and depressing. It wasn’t good for his chi.

“Now that we’ve all managed to gather here, together and alive, let’s talk business,” Leo said, keeping his voice down.

“We’re in,” Xabi answered for the both of them.

“Both of you?” Leo eyed Fernando skeptically. Fernando averted his gaze.

“Both of us,” Xabi confirmed.

Leo didn’t make a big deal out of it. He didn’t bring up the conversation only hours earlier between him and Fernando. He didn’t mention that Fernando had, at first, said no. Or more like, he’d said never. Fernando was grateful for that. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Leo seemed okay. At least he hadn’t yet shown signs of being a psychopath like Carra. That was something Fernando could live with.

“Well then, I guess I can skip the prezi on why you should work for me and just get to the nitty gritty details.”

It took a while for Fernando to get that there was no prezi. He was starting to feel the buzz of the medication going straight into his bloodstream. The aching in his joints became mellow and his other pains drifted to the back of his mind as he attempted to concentrate on Leo’s words.

"I doubt either of you want to ever see Carragher again. And sadly I can't let you kill him to get even because he has a lot of misguided followers that would come after us, and I just can't risk that."

Fernando nodded. But the weird and slightly amused looks that he got told him that nodding wasn't really necessary here. Either that or he had something on his face. He wiped a hand from his hairline to his chin just in case.

"And I don't care about the diamonds. So I'm not gonna ask about them. Don't tell me where they are."

Fernando opened his mouth to tell Leo where they were but got cut off.

"Don't tell me." Leo squinted his eyes at Fernando and then turned to Cesc. "Check his morphine."

Cesc turned it back down and ignored Fernando, who was pushing him and whining slightly. "No, don't do that."

"You can go crazy with it later, right now I need you to listen."

"I might just change my mind if you're going to be so bossy all the time."

"Anyways, I'd prefer if you didn't have contact with anyone you worked with before. You never know their intentions. Like I said, he has a lot of misguided followers."

Fernando was shaking his head. "That can't happen. Xabs, is sleeping with Stevie."

Xabi turned bright red.

"And I'm...I'm.... uh well I don't know what me and Daniel are right now. But I'm not gonna stop talking to him." Fernando got busy on his phone.

Leo chuckled. "If he's always this fun when he's high, I want him drugged up all the time. It's much better than when he's all grumpy and stubborn."

Fernando didn't look up from his phone.

"I'm serious though. I don't want anyone from his gang to get close to what goes on in mine. It's not happening."

"What if... they're on their way here right now?"

"What?!" Everyone looked at him.

He held up his phone. "The miracle of technology."

"Wow, you're not going to be an easy one to deal with are you?"

"And they'll tell you the same thing. We're not gonna stop talking to each other. They're...they're something. I don't know, I forget. Important to us or something like that."

Cesc and Cris were laughing to themselves and Xabi, still bright red, was shaking his head. Xavi's face was indecipherable and Leo looked like an incredibly strange mixture of entertained and pissed.

"We'll deal with them when they get here then. But I'm not joking. I can't have you two keeping contact with Carragher’s people."

"I don't think they even count as Carra's people."

"Are they loyal to him?" Xabi didn't respond. But Fernando laughed.

"The only reason we're even here, in this situation, is because Carra knows they aren't loyal. And he thought it was our fault."

Leo frowned. "I can't take that chance."

"You're going to have to," Xabi said, as a commotion was heard outside.

Leo pushed aside the curtain slightly, and saw someone come in with a nurse running after.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Messi," the nurse said, as the man looked around. "I know you said no visitors but—"

The man's eyes met Leo's accusingly. "Where are they?"

"Stevie!" Fernando yelled, despite knowing he was still hidden by the curtain. "Over here!"

Stevie narrowed his eyes and stepped around Leo, purposefully invading his personal space, as if it were some sort of technique for intimidation. Leo wasn't so amused anymore.

"Stevie you made it!"

"What the hell, Nando! You said you were in trouble!"

"I lied to get you here faster. And it worked!"

"Fucking hell." Stevie’s eyes landed on Xabi and softened. "Are you okay?"

"To be honest, I've been better," Fernando said before Xabi could answer.

"I'm fine," Xabi said. "You shouldn't—maybe you should go. Just to keep the peace."

Leo and Stevie snorted at the same time at the mention of peace. It was far too late for that. Stevie was trespassing. The hospital was off Carra's territory.

Xavi leaned in and said something in Leo's ear.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Xavi gave Leo a meaningful look. Leo sighed in defeat. He looked over at the little reunion. "We'll be back."

He left with Xavi, Cesc and Cris at his tail. Daniel rushed in seconds after. He took in the scene before him and thought everything seemed fine to him. No one really looked like they were in any immediate danger. At least not more than they could be in, being in the intensive care unit and all.

"Fernando, I thought you said you were in trouble."

"He lied," Stevie grumbled as Fernando smiled and nodded.

"They said we weren't allowed to talk to you anymore and I didn't like that."

"So you called us to their territory without reason?"

"The reason was that I missed you," said Fernando, pouting. Dan relented and walked over to slip his hand into Fernando's.

"What the fuck are you on?" Fernando only smiled. The morphine was fading away again and he wanted to relish the feeling for as long as he could.

Xabi sighed. "If we join up, we can't see you again."

"Then don't join," Stevie said simply.

"Smart idea," Fernando said.

Xabi narrowed his eyes at Stevie. "No offense but I'm not gonna go prancing around without the protection that being recruited offers from other gangs for someone I slept with twice. I wouldn't even be in this hospital bed if I hadn't slept with you."

"He's got a point there, Stevie," Fernando said. "Rebuttal please."

"Shh," Daniel said, tugging on Fernando's hand.

"What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like." Xabi looked away from Stevie's probing eyes.

"You're trying to tell me that Carra tried to kill you because we _fucked_ a couple of times?"

"Think about it for a second, Stevie," Dan said quietly, busy figuring it out on his own. "How much does he let you get away with? I literally never do a thing he tells me to and I'm still alive."

"So?"

"So, he sees them as threats."

"Why would he see—"

"Because he's crazy!" Fernando was exasperated with how slow the progression of the conversation was going.

"Okay, well, you can't just expect me to forget about you," Stevie said, addressing Xabi.

"You're going to have to," was the reply.

"I feel like this something we should not be here for, Nando," Dan said, rolling Fernando's wheelchair away from Xabi's bed. "Where is your room? We kind of have to talk about this too."

After some directions from a nurse, since Fernando had no clue where his room was, Daniel finally found it and helped Fernando into the bed.

"What are we going to do?" Fernando asked him.

"Depends. Are you going to join him?"

"It feels like the safest and smartest option." Fernando wasn't really off his high, but he didn't feel as loopy before.

"So he's not going to let us see each other."

Fernando frowned. "It's not going to stop me."

"And if he finds out? Gets mad?"

"I don't think he'd go about it like Carra would. But we can cross that bridge when we get there."

Dan smiled. He bent down and kissed Fernando lightly. Their noses brushed against each other's cheeks as they synchronized themselves after a month of being so off key. When Dan pulled back, Fernando was breathless.

"Yeah, I definitely don't care what he thinks."

Dan only grinned widely at him. But inside, he was deeply wishing he could tell Fernando what he knew.

\----

The conversation wasn't going so well for Stevie. No matter what he said, he couldn't convince Xabi to reconsider.

"I can protect you," he argued. "I wouldn't let Carra hurt you. If I had any idea what he planned on doing—"

"But you didn't know. And I'm not saying that's your fault but the point is that you weren't there and the things that I had to endure just because I slept with you were horrible and you can't just—"

Xabi stopped. He looked into Stevie's pleading eyes, almost giving in right there and then, but then shaking off the temptation.

"You can't just expect me to forget it. I can't just get over it. I look at you, and I'm reminded of what happened. I can't live like that."

Stevie pressed his lips into a thin line and searched Xabi's face for any indication that there might be some hope. But he only found apology.

Turning around, he left without another word. He didn't tell Xabi that Carra had suffered major head trauma when Leo had knocked him out. He didn't mention that the doctors had found a slow growing tumour in his brain that had affected his mental function for years nor did he say anything about how Carra couldn't hurt Xabi or Fernando because he believed he'd killed them.

He wanted to tell Xabi the last one, because it could influence his decision, but he would have to back it up with everything else that he couldn't reveal. No one could know that Carra was in a weakened state, because the first thing other gangs would do is jump at the chance of killing him and being the ones to take over. With Carra practically bedridden now, he was practically harmless so whoever took over after him would only be worse. Things were good the way they were right now. There was peace within the gang. Stevie and Daniel were as free as they could be.

But Fernando and Xabi would be the kind to take advantage of it and try and take over, so he couldn't say anything. At least he knew Fernando was the type to do that. He couldn't predict what Xabi would do with that information. He couldn't risk it.

He just wanted peace. (And Xabi)

Apparently he could only have one or the other.

But he was determined to have both.

Stevie would just have to find another way to convince him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my new favourite thing is to write while I'm high because it always ends being super ridiculous.
> 
> If you guys want, you can leave pairings/prompts in the comments and I'll totally write them while I'm blazed :D
> 
> (Seriously I need ideas haha)


	12. One of the scariest things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Present timeline.
> 
> Just a recap of where everyone is at, at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "AN UPDATE?!?!"
> 
> Yep!
> 
> I read through this but I'm really tired so I apologize for spelling and grammar mistakes.

It had taken Iker an enormous amount of effort to haul himself out of his car. He loitered outside the doors to the entrance of the hospital and once he was inside, he almost turned himself back around. But a nurse approached him and asked him if he needed any help and before he knew it, he was asking if he could speak to Dr. Ramos. He mentally crossed his fingers—because his actual fingers were curled tightly into his palms—hoping that Sergio was busy, but the nurse said he was almost done checking up on a patient. She would page him and he would be with Iker shortly.

"You're welcome to take a seat here."

Iker nodded and was left alone.

Sergio grinned widely when he saw Iker, but Iker's expression caused his smile to falter.

Iker didn't beat around the bush. He knew if he didn't ask right away, he wouldn't be able to at all.

"Where's Cesc?"

Sergio stopped a couple of feet away from Iker. Neither of them reached for each other as they usually would. They could both feel the sudden rift that that question brought with it. It was heavily loaded. And Iker had just fired it.

"Iker... please don't get involved. Keep yourself as far away from it as possible."

Iker's eyebrows scrunched up together. "What did you do to him?"

"He's fine. You don't have to worry."

"Let him go, Sergio. Whatever you're into with that Leo guy, I'll help you get out. Just, please, let Cesc go."

Sergio shook his head. "You don't understand. I _can't_ do that. Not until I win. And I'm so close Iker."

"Win what? You can't seriously think that you're the only person affected by gang violence. You're not the only person who wants revenge for something. But you can't win. The system doesn't work that way."

"I will _make_ the system work my way."

"There will always be someone worse. Someone with a bigger body count."

Sergio stepped in closer and gripped Iker's forearms. He had a frantic look in his eye as he dropped his voice to a whisper. "He took away my family Iker. My brother, my mother, they were all I had. And he took them away from me."

"What does that have to do with Cesc?"

"Leo cares about him. And Cesc's little crush on you doesn't make me his biggest fan either."

Iker ignored that. This wasn't—shouldn't be—about that. "Sergio... you said your mother died because she was sick."

"We can't talk here. Come." He slid one of his hands down to Iker's and tugged lightly, prompting Iker to follow him. Sergio led him through the hospital halls to an empty room which he promptly locked. Then Sergio sunk down into a chair in the corner by an empty bed and his face in his hands.

Iker approached him silently and put a hand on his back, rubbing slowly in circles with his thumb.

"Tell me, Sergio. I'm here to help you."

\----

One of the scariest feelings in life is when you realize you aren't afraid to die. You don't look either way when you cross the road anymore. When you take pills you take however many drop into your hand. You're not afraid when you hear those creaking noises in your house because you don't mind that the ax murderer hiding in your closet, under your bed, behind your shower curtain, will get you. You seek out dangerous things. You stop caring about yourself, totally and completely. Nothing about you matters anymore to yourself and at some point you look in the mirror and become afraid of what you've become and miss who you used to be. Because you're a monster.

When you feel like you've been sucked into a war that you'll never win, when you lay in the dark for countless hours waiting for the shadows to swallow you whole, only to witness the sun rising, indicating yet another battle to fight. When you're tired. Just tired.

Leo didn't remember when he transitioned from a normal functioning human being to what he was now. He couldn't recall what it felt like before. He couldn't even be sure there was a before—maybe he had always been like this.

He didn't go to the hospital like James suggested. He didn't want to have a civil conversation. He was no longer interested in dragging this out. Cesc's life was on the line. He knew everyone thought that he was out to get himself killed. But he wasn't. _Not really._ He just wanted release. Release from a life he had chosen when he was too young to realize that he still had a chance in the world. But release wasn't granted so easily. He didn't have a child, like Cris, that he could devote his life to. He had Xavi, but Xavi was as far into this shit as he was. And someone with as many skeletons in his closet, as many demons, as many people with scores to settle as he had, didn't just get out.

Leo knew from the beginning that either he or Sergio would be dead at the end of this. The only way he would get his release was if it was him. One could argue that that was definitely a death wish but not to Leo. To Leo it was a way out. It seemed, the only way out.

And he knew it wasn't fair to anyone. It wasn't fair that he had come back into everyone's lives, knowing that he intended to leave. He should have stayed away. Distanced himself more, even from Xavi—disappeared in a way that no one would notice he had gone. But he couldn't die thinking that people blamed him for everything wrong in their lives. Fernando being apart from Daniel, Xabi estranged from Stevie, Cesc never taking what he wants. But he came back only to find that things were fixing themselves on their own. The people he cared about didn't need him to come back.

Now, Cesc needed him. Cesc needed him and he was not going to let him down. He didn't care about release anymore. He was going to find Cesc and he was going to get Sergio out of the way so that Cesc would have nothing in between him and Iker and then he was going to leave again. Drop off the face of the earth if he had to. He couldn't keep the people he cared about and have freedom at the same time. And he was selfish. So in the end he'd choose freedom.

He hoped no one would interfere.

Right now, he was cashing in every favour he could recall having to find it where Sergio was hiding Cesc. It was only a matter of time.

\----

Xabi had been back for a long time when Stevie got in. He was still reeling, almost disbelieving of what Daniel had done. Worried, too, about what he might be going through after that. Danny wasn't exactly known for emotional stability—none of them were—but he especially was never cut out for this life.

Xabi was lounging on the couch, channel surfing, no pants on, a large bandage covering one of thighs.

"I overestimated how much I could stand to walk," he said. "Tight pants don't do me any good either."

"Well, I gotta say, your tight pants usually do a lot for me. But I don't mind you pants less either." Stevie trailed his fingers across Xabi's bare thigh. Xabi abruptly grabbed him by the arm and Stevie almost chuckled, thinking that Xabi was in the mood. But Xabi was frowning.

"There's blood on your sleeve."

Stevie cursed himself for wearing light denim. He remembered wiping blood of Dan’s face. He should have just handed him a Kleenex or something.

"Nice observational skills Xabs. Would you like a prize?"

"I didn't realize that visiting a nail salon had such a risk."

Stevie rolled his eyes and pulled his arm out of Xabi's grip.

"Whose blood is it?"

"Not mine. Isn't that what matters?"

Stevie pulled up Xabi's feet from the couch and sat down, dropping the feet into his lap and resting his hands on Xabi's ankles.

"Was it a job? I thought you didn't work for anyone right now."

"Not a job. Just... something Danny and I needed to take care of."

"Anything that you want to tell me about?"

_Everything I want to tell you about. Ever since I saw you in that hospital bed I've wanted to tell you._

"Stevie?"

_But I can't. It's not just my secret. It's Danny's too. It would only cause chaos._

"Not important, love. Danny just formed a bit of a temper. Nothing got too out of hand."

_Nothing is wrong, except the future of one of the wealthiest gangs in the area is in the hands of a complete stranger. Someone who could potentially be worse than Carra ever was._

"But someone's dead?"

_You'd be celebrating if you knew who. But you'd also damn me for not getting rid of him sooner. Damn me for not telling you how easy it's been to do so for so long._

"He was practically dead as it was. Think of it as putting him out of his misery."

 _Putting a lot of people out of misery. Tell me you're not miserable anymore. Tell me you can_ feel _the difference. Tell me you can feel freedom from those horrid memories. Tell me you feel released from your torment. From your tormentor._

"Whatever you say."

Xabi landed on a rerun of a show he'd seen a thousand times. Nothing else was on. Daytime TV sucked.

Stevie watched Xabi as Xabi watched an episode of a show that Stevie knew Xabi knew the lines of by heart. He watched Xabi mouth the words silently—unconsciously—a sight not uncommon to him. He watched Xabi rub his temple. He watched Xabi yawn. Watched his eyes turn to meet Stevie's, crinkle at the corners. He didn't need to watch Xabi's lips to know he was smiling. He could see it in his eyes. Those eyes were the first part of Xabi he'd noticed. And they were—

"Stevie are you listening to me?!"

Stevie shook his head and tried to pull himself out of his daydream. Xabi wasn't smiling. He'd imagined that. Of course.

"Huh?"

"Cesc is missing."

"I doubt missing is the right word. Doesn't he disappear, like, all the time?"

"That's what I said to Leo, but he thinks that Sergio might have something to do with Cesc's disappearance this time."

"Right. And Sergio is...?"

"The guy who wants to kill Leo. Keep up."

"Okay so Cesc may have been kidnapped, but he could just be fucking around for attention."

"Yeah but the more I think about it, the more I think that Leo might be right. I don't know. I'm worried, but at the same time I feel like there's no reason to be."

Stevie smiled. "So your solution is to sit on the couch and watch TV?"

"I got shot in the leg this week! I shouldn't even be walking as much as I have been."

"I'm just teasing," Stevie said laughing. "What can I do to help ease your worry?"

"I don't know... finding Cesc would be the only thing. I swear I'm gonna smack him if he's taken another impromptu vacation."

“He’ll turn up soon. I’m sure.”

“But the more I think about it, the more I don’t know what to think. I mean, how can some doctor manage to pull off a kidnapping? But why would Cesc take off right when Leo comes back?”

Stevie sighed. "Do you want to go ask around? See if anyone knows anything?"

Xabi scrunched up his nose.

Stevie rubbed his thumb against Xabi's ankle. "Seems like you do."

"I don't want to _personally_ be out there. But yeah, asking around would be a good idea."

"Fernando?"

"Yeah," Xabi was already reaching for his phone. "Fernando."

\----

Fernando ignored the text at first.

But then he picked up his phone again and glared at the screen. What would Cesc do for him in this case? If the tables were turned?

If he was being honest with himself, Cesc would probably finish sucking his boyfriend’s dick before he even _considered_ doing as Xabi ordered.

But he had only recently begun being honest with himself and wasn't entirely in the habit of it yet.

Needless to say, Daniel wasn't very happy being left mid blow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my school district is going on strike starting next week and all my teachers pushed important end of term assignments to April and I've been absolutely drowning in work.
> 
> And that is my excuse, I'm so sorry for the long wait.


	13. Sergio ft. Cris and Iker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Past timeline.
> 
> Sergio ft. Cris and Iker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not in the same timeline(s) as the the other past chapters.
> 
> Not sure if this chapter makes any sense, because I'm not entirely sure I remember what this story is even about anymore, I just hope it doesn't cause any continuity issues.
> 
> Also I read a really horrible article and it made me angry.

Sergio once read an article called _10 Common Lies Men Tell Women_. James had once used five of them on him in one day. Not exactly in context.

First, there was the ‘I’m on my way’ when Sergio knew James probably hadn’t even gotten out of bed. It wasn’t because James was always tardy, but because Sergio had been up all night and couldn’t stand being home alone any longer and had called James to come pick him up for their shift a couple of hours earlier than necessary. Sergio was usually the one to pick James up, but his car was being repaired.

Then, James had told him that his bedside manners were improving. The article had said ‘your cooking is improving’ but this was practically the same thing. He knew that, as a surgeon and not a medical doctor, he couldn’t interact all that well with his patients off of an anaesthetic and out of the OR. So, like some woman out there who wanted to clock her husband in the jaw because she knew she had over-salted the lentils, Sergio wanted to stomp on James’ pager after he’d narrowly avoided making a young girl, in need of a heart transplant, cry.

The third, ‘you’ve been tense lately, something wrong?’ didn’t come out in words so much as the looks James was giving him. Because, in this case, James wasn’t trying to hint that he wasn’t willing to put up with Sergio’s mood swings, as the article suggested. James already knew what was wrong. He didn’t need to ask.

When they were carpooling home after their shift, Sergio was driving James’ car because James doesn’t like to drive. He avoids it as much as he can. They always had their shifts as coordinated as possible so Sergio could drive them both to and back from the hospital. Recently, James would drive to Sergio’s place, and Sergio would drive them to work and back to his home, and James would drive home, grateful that he lived close. Despite James’ contempt for being behind the wheel, that day, he had asked Sergio if he could drive instead.

“You look tired.” _You look tired._

The article had said that men offer to drive in place of women because they think women are shitty drivers and they can’t afford to have their cars wrapped around a pole. But Sergio knew that James saw how red his eyes were from locking himself in a bathroom stall and burying his face in his hands to muffle his sobs. James noticed how Sergio’s hands shook when he reached to change gears and how tightly he was holding the steering wheel and how he was looking at the road, but not seeing any of the cars, the signs, the lights.

At night, when Sergio could do nothing but stare at patterns painted by artificial light, coming through his sheer curtains and creating a dance on his ceiling, James called him and talked to him for exactly as long as necessary.

“Thank you,” Sergio had said at the end of the aimless conversation. “For calling me.”

“I called because I was bored.”

Now the article had stated that men do this because they don’t trust women or they were too clingy. Calling them randomly is a way of checking up on them or just asserting a place in their lives. And James was, in a way, checking up on Sergio, but Sergio thought it was more of something else.

“I’m saying you’re a good friend, James. Take the compliment.”

“I don’t need you to _tell_ me that I’m a good friend. I already _know_ that.”

At the end of the day, that ridiculously male chauvinistic article didn’t really have anything to do with Sergio’s day at all. James wasn’t lying to him because he was trying to spare Sergio’s feelings. In fact, James wasn’t really lying to Sergio at all. He was being what Sergio needed.

Sergio could rely on James.

\----

Sergio didn't have the most apple pie childhood but he was always grateful for what he was given. He chose to become a doctor when his father died. The fact that doctors did their best to save people's lives, even though they weren't able to save his father's, inspired him enough to want to do it for the rest of his life. The ups and downs that he encountered after that were minuscule in comparison to the loss of his father, until his mother became sick as well.

Both he and his brother fell into a depression. Sergio worked his way through, doing everything in his power to make sure his mother's condition wouldn't affect the quality of his work at the very least, but his brother turned to other things for comfort, becoming involved in things that Sergio tried his best to talk him out of.

He would always talk of this one gang that he wanted to join. Sergio didn't understand why anyone would _aspire_ to join a gang and yet his brother wouldn't be swayed from his decision. He came home one day, a fire in his eyes lit by rejection and fuelled from anger.

"I tried to show them what I could do. What I'm fucking capable of, but they won't even look at me twice."

"Watch your language," Sergio said frowning. "Maybe this is a sign that you need to go back to school. Make something of yourself."

"It's their leader I have to impress. Messi. If he sees what I can do with a gun, he'll take me in for sure."

"Where the hell did you learn how to use a gun?!"

There was really no use. His brother wouldn't listen to him. Sergio wasn't his parent and his brother didn't care about what he had to say. But Sergio couldn't just abandon him. James suggested giving him an ultimatum. Either he goes back to school or finds another place to live, but Sergio didn't have it in him to kick his brother out. He would rather wait and try to convince the boy to change his mind.

Until there was no more waiting to do, because his brother had already made his decision and it had gotten him killed.

Sergio had done his best to hide what his brother had been doing from his mother up until that point. The positive outlook had helped her get better to the point where it was possible she could be released from the hospital after no more than a week of additional observation. But he couldn't hide something so big. As a result, his mother's condition only deteriorated back to the state it had been when she'd first been admitted after hearing about her youngest son’s demise. Sergio tried to be strong for her, but she no longer had it in her to be strong for him.

Her passing, only a couple of months after his brothers, on a long and dreadful path of failed recovery, left Sergio broken. He questioned his entire life. What was the point of the sciences he and other doctors studied so rigorously if they couldn't keep his mother alive? What was the point of him if he couldn't keep his own brother alive? He'd become a doctor so he could do everything in his power to ensure that as few people as possible would have to feel what he felt when his father died, and yet, he could do nothing to stop himself from feeling it all over again, the pain multiplied by more losses.

James had been his rock, through his brother’s rebellion, through his mother's illness, through his despair at losing both of them so quickly. He even had his eye on a cute mechanic who seemed to be keeping his car for an unnecessary length of time, not that it mattered, since he enjoyed visiting said mechanic. The trips to the garage cheered him up to a small extent, which was more than anything else did. He was on a path of recovery himself.

But nothing would be enough. He knew his mother had been getting better. She might have even made a full recovery if it hadn't been for the crushing news of her son's death. And his brother wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for the horrible influences that he'd been exposed to. Deep down, Sergio thought it was his fault. By some strange happenstance, his past mistakes had influenced everything that was going wrong in his life now. But he also thought it was easier to blame someone else. And he knew exactly who the blame should fall on.

\----

"I don't really think that's how it works."

"I've got it on good authority that that's exactly how it works."

"Sergio..." Cris rubbed his temple in an attempt to alleviate the headache that was threatening to burst his skull. He'd been listening to Sergio's 'plan'. To say it was stupid was an understatement. And James didn't have Cris' back on it. But thankfully, he didn't have Sergio's back on it either. James just didn't have anything to say at all and it pissed Cris off. Obviously he'd brought Sergio to Cris to not have to be the one to deal with this particular situation.

The situation being Sergio's batshit crazy plan to kill the leader of a gang for an incident he had no real information about.

"Sergio, you'd never even get close to him. And even if you did, you'd be dead before you could even do anything."

"Which is why you're going to help me right?"

"Help you?" Cris scoffed. "Help you kill my boss? No fucking way."

"Why not?"

Cris glanced at James, who was pretending not to pay attention. What the fuck was he thinking when he decided to get Cris messed up in this? Obviously James wanted him to talk Sergio out of this—maybe convince him that it wasn't directly Leo's fault that his brother died. But Cris didn't even know anything about it. Leo had done a good job covering up whatever must have happened. Or, more likely, Xavi had done a good job, because Leo wasn't likely to give a shit. Either way, Cris hadn't been involved. Until now.

"Sergio, what do you think will happen if you—which I'm telling you right now is less than possible—do manage to kill him? Do you think that the world will magically become a better place? That all gang violence in the world will disappear? Because it won't. Someone else will take over, and you'll have accomplished nothing. You'll get yourself killed and it won't bring your brother back."

There was the telltale sound of a child crying in the other room and James took the chance to excuse himself from the room.

Sergio didn't react to Cris' words. He had already made up his mind. No one else's opinion mattered. He didn't care if anyone was going to help him or not. He was going to kill Leo Messi, because Leo Messi killed his brother, which in turn, killed his mother.

\----

"Cristiano, I think you're off your rocker. You do know you're just supposed to transport drugs, right? You're not supposed to take them too."

Cris rolled his eyes. "You're saying that like you expect me to believe you're sober right now." Cris knew he wasn't, if his bloodshot eyes and vacant expression were anything to go by.

" _I'm_ allowed to do whatever I want. _You're_ not. No recreational drugs on the job."

 _I won't be on the job_ , Cris thought to himself. _Soon enough, I'll have to tell him that._

But he didn't have to tell him just yet.

"Leo, did you get that kid killed or not?"

Leo sighed. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time… pissed off the guy I was dealing with. He got himself killed, so I don't see why I should be blamed."

"He was trying to get your attention."

"What my _fans_ do isn't really my problem."

"It is now." That caught the attention of Xavi, who had not really been listening until that point. "The kid’s older brother’s pretty serious about putting a bullet in your head. And he's not being quiet about it. Soon enough word is going to get out to other people you've got beef with, and they're going to take advantage of the situation. If enough people team up, you're not going to stand a chance in hell."

"As if anyone could think that they'd get close enough to kill me."

"This guy is pretty confident. Crazy confident. And if some kid can find you, I'm pretty sure someone with the means of making proper connections can easily track you down."

Cris knew that Leo was aware of all of that. He also knew Leo didn't care. Whether it was because he was overly confident about how untouchable he was or because he wasn't afraid of death was something Cris couldn't figure out, but he had some sort of an inclination that made him think that it was a dangerous mixture of both.

"Where are you even getting this all from? For all I know, you could just be fucking around." Leo's speech was slurred. It was more than likely that he wasn't even aware of the words coming out of his mouth. "I didn't know that kid. I don't know his brother. Hell, I don't even know if he really has a brother or not. I gotta say Cris. You're really good at telling stories. You should write a book."

Cris look at Xavi. "I'm telling the truth. His life could really be in danger."

Xavi nodded. Leo thought that he was still the one being spoken to. "I'm sure you _think_ you're telling the truth. But isn't everyone's truth different? Your truth implies that someone's out to get me. My truth tells me that birds are assholes. We may never know the _real_ truths of the universe."

\----

Cris left to go home with contempt for what he did every day. He had never planned to end up as who he was. He had never wanted a life where he didn't even know if he'd live to see the next day. But he knew he wanted to live. He hadn't realized it until he had met James, but he really wanted to. And then, a few months ago, a kid had been dropped off at his doorstep, no note, no explanation, but a face that was similar to the one he saw in the mirror every morning, and living was no longer a want, but a need.

He needed to live.

James had given him a reason to want to live.

And Junior had given him a reason to need to live.

Yet he hadn't been able to tell Leo that he could no longer stay if he was to ensure the safety of his new family. No matter how much he appreciated the family he had been provided since he was teen—the family that had helped him stay off the streets—he wasn't that person anymore. He didn't think he was better than the people who preferred to continue doing what they did, he just had different priorities now.

James didn't ask him about it when he got home. He knew Cris needed time to approach the subject with Leo. Not just because Cris was upset about leaving, but because a single word out of place could mean that Leo might not let him leave at all.

James also didn't ask him because there was a chance he was still angry about him throwing Sergio's crazy at him full speed without any warning. He hadn't, however, had a choice because James had no idea how to deal with that kind of stuff. It wasn't his area. And it was only right for Cris to know since it was his boss—hopefully soon to be ex-boss—that Sergio wanted to exact revenge upon.

\----

Over two years later, a certain mechanic finally gathered the courage to ask out one of his customers. Just earlier that day, he'd watched one of his employees change a tire and wondered how things would be if he wasn't so convinced he hated the life that said employee left.

Iker hated the gangs that ruined the streets of his beloved city. But he also hated himself for befriending Cesc and Fernando and maintaining the rise of not knowing what they hid from him. There didn't seem to be anything Sergio was hiding from him and the fact that his life choices seemed to be the complete opposite of Cesc's let Iker believe that there was hope for him to get over Cesc. It wasn't right. He was Cesc's boss. And Cesc was in a gang. Neither of those things appealed to him. But he couldn't get the way the younger man’s oily fingers clenched around a wrench and—

"Iker?"

He was snapped out of his reverie and back into the bedroom in which he was currently lounging. "I'll be right back."

He got out of bed and pulled on his sweats and a t shirt.

"Another? I thought you were trying to quit?"

"I'll quit next week."

"Fine," Sergio sighed. "But I'm holding you to it this time."

Iker grunted in reply and left. His bare feet found their way out to the cold concrete of the small balcony of his apartment. He leaned against the railing and lit a cigarette. His throat felt abused by the pack he'd finished earlier that day and he was confused by when it had gotten so bad. Smoking had always been more of a social thing for him and all of a sudden he was doing it every moment he was alone and he could no longer rid his bedroom of the smell.

He used to use smoking as an excuse to talk to someone, now he was using his habit. As an excuse for getting out of talking to people. Right now, that person was Sergio. But he used Sergio too. He used his feelings for Sergio as an excuse to invalidate his feelings for Cesc. Sergio was becoming a habit.

He was using this new habit to get rid of an old one. It wasn't the most efficient route, but Sergio wasn't a _bad_ habit. There was so much to explore with him. The possibility of a life not having to worry if his line of work would get him killed—not that he didn't still worry about Cesc—he did—he was just good at pretending he didn't. Not that it mattered, he barely saw Cesc anymore. Cesc wasn't actively avoiding him at this point, but he wasn’t spending every moment of his shift with Iker anymore. Cesc was pulling away, and Iker could understand why.

\----

Sergio knew he was a horrible person.

He was truly, deeply, fucked in the head.

And he was scared someone was going to figure it out.

Only James knew about his past. But he couldn't always be around to stop it from repeating. So once Sergio was done vomiting outside the door of the bar he'd spent his evening at, he caught a cab home and locked himself in his room. There was a small leather bound book on his dresser. He didn't remember leaving it there. He was never good about keeping it regularly. The first entry was dated for more than two years prior. The next five or six after had been four or five months apart. The latest was about Iker. And he didn't know what this next one was going to be.

He'd never attempted to write down his feelings when he was thus emotional, even though it was what the journal was for in the first place.

_I regret everything. I could have done so much better. I could have just endured a bit more. She endured so much for me, and I didn't even thank her for all she did for me and my brother. And now she's gone. They both are. I'll never be able to show them how grateful I am._

Realizing that the subject matter was of his family he squeezed his pen tightly in his hand.

_There were so many signs. So many times that I should have stopped and listened, just paid a little attention to what she was saying. People tried to tell me. And I didn't listen. I should have. Even James told me how stupid I was being, I should have known to listen to at least him after everything he'd put at stake for me. For my past mistakes. I was too caught up in my own stupid little world. If Iker knew about the things I'd done, he'd leave. I wouldn't be able to live if he left.  
I'm willing to do anything to make sure Iker will never find out. That he'll never leave Even if it means getting even with those mobster friends that Cris has._

It was his past mistakes that had led to him not being able to deal with his brother’s rebellion, and he was slipping into the same dismal routine as before. It was toxic. _He_ was toxic.

And it showed with the way he'd been left so alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will most likely go back to the regular past timeline instead of the present timeline.


	14. Xabi's madly in love according to Stevie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regular past timeline.
> 
> Short(ish) and hopefully sweet.
> 
> Mostly Stevie and Xabi.

Stevie stayed true to the two part promise he had made to himself when he had left Xabi at the hospital. No one outside of a small group of trusted people knew about Carras condition. The few people who did know secretly ran the gang so no one realized that anything was off. That fulfilled the first part.

As for the second part, he kept pursuing Xabi, not willing to give up on something he'd barely had a chance to have. So he came to the hospital everyday, enduring the hard glares he received from Leo and his minions, just to be able to see colour returning to Xabis cheeks. Xabi would frown and then steal a glance at whoever was watching him at the time--which by the end was almost always Leo, who was becoming increasingly agitated at how persistent Stevie was--before addressing him disapprovingly.

"Why are you here?"

"You know why."

"Don't believe I do. Leave."

"Nope." Then Stevie would try to grab Xabi's hand, only to have it pulled away. At this point, whoever else was there, would leave.

On Stevie's first time back, Xabi had been moved from the ICU to a more private room, so the only other person was a sleeping Fernando in the other bed, who really would not have liked the situation had he been awake.

"How are you feeling?" Stevie had asked, quietly.

"Why are you trying to create problems?" Xabi hadn't bothered being quite. It was a stressful situation as it was, and Stevie's presence was only adding onto his anxiety.

"Why are you fighting what you feel for me?"

Xabi had scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous," Stevie had pointed out. "If I was, you'd just have said that you didn't feel anything for me. But you didn't."

"I don't feel anything but for you."

"Sorry, mate. A little too late to say that now." Xabi had rolled his eyes at that. "Now that we've established that you're madly in love with me, we should probably talk about moving in together."

"You're crazy."

"No, you're crazy. You're gonna start working for Leo fucking Messi."

"It's not anymore crazy than me starting to work for Carra. It would be crazy if I stayed. Or if I started a fucking desk job or something."

"I'll get you a desk job."

"What? No, Stevie I don't want you to get me anything."

"Xabi..." Stevie had looked at him with pleading eyes. "Is my promise not enough? Is it not enough that I swear to you Carra will never hurt you again."

"No... it's not."

At this point, Stevie had run out of hope for the day. Xabi hadn't complained when he'd reached down and pressed a kiss to Xabi's forehead before he'd left.

By the time Xabi's last day in the hospital rolled around, the hospital staff didn't even bother trying to follow Leo's orders and not let him in. He'd make it inside in the end anyways, so there was no point trying to stop him. Xabi was standing at the foot the bed when he strolled in, leaning on Fernando for support.

Fernando had been let out a week earlier, since he didn't have to recover from extensive surgery. He did, however, continue to complain about pains and aches, thinking that if he didn't, people would forget that he was hurt too. Which no one did, of course, and not just because he kept constantly reminding everyone.

Xabi was the complete opposite. He never wanted to talk about it. He'd pretend nothing was hurting, as if it helped him pretend that nothing had actually happened. Stevies constant presence was a reminder that it wasn't just a bad dream he could put behind him. Stevie understood that too. But that didn't mean he was going to give up. He wanted to show Xabi that he didn't have to be a reminder of things gone bad, but instead, he could be hope for the future.

A doctor he'd come to recognize, but didn't know the name of, was dictating to Xabi about how important it was to move around, but not over exert himself. Fernando wasn't paying attention to the exchange, choosing instead to scroll through something on his phone. Stevie could see the marks on his wrist, that had mostly healed but wouldn't fade so easy. The marks on Xabi's wrists hadn't even begun to heal just yet. He had a horrible habit of scratching them, which only opened up his scabs. Yellowed bruises littered both of their exposed skin. Their arms, necks, faces, which had looked like battlegrounds when he'd first seen them at the hospital, now almost comically made them resemble characters from The Simpsons.

That's good, Stevie thought. If their physical scars were showing improvement, then maybe their emotional scars would too.

Stevie found it strange that Fernando didn't seem to be affected by the fact that Daniel was still connected with Carra, and they had resumed their... relationship, if one could even call it that, without the blink of an eye, but Stevie's connection to Carra seemed to be the sole reason for Xabi's rejection. Stevie wished it wasn't like that. Stevie wished that Xabi could look past that. If it even was that. For all he knew, it could be something else entirely that was bothering Xabi.

None of it mattered though because he wasn't willing to give Xabi up. Never had he felt a sense of enlightenment from just looking at someone's face. Never had he felt as self conscious as when he'd answered the door naked and watched this mans eyes travel up and down his body in a way that left him speechless. Never had someone reacted so positively to his blatantly unsubtle and unimpressive sexual advances. Never had he wanted to know absolutely everything about a person, and yet want to know nothing about them at the same time, just so he could have a chance to discover every crevice of their soul on his own. Yeah... he wasn't giving up on Xabi.

He could no longer hear the doctor talking. He felt like he was reliving a memory as he slowly realized he was staring right at Xabi's face, watching his lips move, but not being able to capture the words they were saying. Until...

"Ow!"

It was Fernando who had reached out and pinched him. A pointed look--eyes narrowed, lips pressed into a thin line--was thrown the blonds way.

"Listen to your boyfriend!" Fernando scolded. That earned him an elbow to the ribs.

"Shut up Fernando!"

"Don't hit me Xabier! I'm injured remember?"

"Shut up!"

"But--"

"What the hell guys?" Stevie was confused. The doctor was nowhere in sight, Fernando had just used that word that Stevie had never heard being used to describe him, and Xabi hadn't outright denied it.

Then again, he never did.

Stevie had noticed that Xabi's attempts to push him away, though consistent, were half hearted. At first he had thought he was breaking down Xabi's walls, until he realized that maybe Xabi didn't have any walls put up in the first place. After the first day, he'd stopped telling Stevie to leave. After the second, he didn't exasperatedly ask Stevie why he was there, mostly because he'd realized that Stevie wasn't going to give him a real answer. After the third, Stevie no longer received glares for "accusing" Xabi for being in love with him. After the fourth, they began to have real conversations again, and Stevie no longer left the hospital feeling like he was going to die alone. Of course, Xabi still told him that he wasn't going to change his mind about working for Leo, nor did he think they could work out, but Stevie had stopped believing him because there was no way he was imagining the emotions welled up in Xabi's eyes.

Though optimism may not be his forte, he was sure Xabi wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with Xabi. And if that wasn't the case... well, he was pretty sure it was the case, so he'd rather not think about alternatives.

"Today's my last day," Xabi said, his gaze unwavering and boring straight into Stevie's mind. And as if he could read Stevie's mind... "I'm not going home with you."

"You keep saying that. And I still don't believe you."

"I have my own place."

"Which you don't need anymore, because now you've got my place."

"Um... sorry to interrupt," Fernando said, not looking apologetic in the slightest. "But your place happens to be on Carras territory. Xabi can't go there."

"It's not anymore. I got a new place. On your new bosses territory. All you have to do is sign the lease. Besides, your old place is on Carras territory too."

A humourless smile appeared on Xabi's face. "Leo's not going to let you--"

"What's he gonna do? Kill me? Would you let him?"

The smile was gone. So was the gaze. Xabi refused to look at him now.

"I'm just gonna leave," Fernando said. Xabi had to lean back against the bed since his support was gone. Stevie wanted to reach out to him, but he wasn't sure if Xabi would be comfortable with that.

"Can you help me back up on the bed?"

That was all the invitation he needed. Once Xabi was laying down again, Stevie took a seat next to the bed.

"When are you being discharged?"

"In the afternoon. Fernando already brought me a change of clothes."

There was a moment of silence. It was like ones they had had in the past few days, only this time, instead of Stevie being the one to speak up, it was Xabi.

"You're right about one thing." Stevie's interest peaked. "I can't go back to my place. It's too... close."

Another moment of silence. Almost like a spell, once again, broken by Xabi.

"Maybe it's not such a bad idea."

An infectious smile creeped onto Stevie's face. One that Xabi fought with all his might, but he could feel the corners of his mouth threatening to turn up as well.

"What's not a bad idea?" Stevie asked, almost teasing. "Say it. I want to hear it."

"Maybe it's not such a bad idea to stay at your new place until I find my own. But only because you're not as annoying as Fernando! And because I don't know Leo's people well enough to stay with one of them."

"That's my what I want to hear!"

"Yeah, well, too bad. That's all you're fucking getting."

"That's not fair!" Stevie pouted.

"Yes it is." Xabi replied curtly.

"Can I at least help you get dressed later?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Okay, well, it was worth a try."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gang au turning all lovey dovey because I am gerlonso trash at heart. Thank you for tuning in and I hope you cry as much about this dumb fandom as I do.


	15. Take me to him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Present timeline - Sergio and Iker talk, Leo gets a lead on Cesc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is way shorter than I planned but I feel like I'm less stressed if I'm not striving for a particular word count on every chapter.

Once Sergio had finished telling Iker why he was so adamant to kill Leo, they had sat in a tension infused silence for a length of time neither of them could accurately account for. Iker had counted Sergio's pager going off five times. He hoped that it wasn't important, because he couldn't gather his thoughts enough to formulate a response to Sergio's confession. The man waiting for a response couldn't look Iker in the eye. He hadn't been able to since the second they had sat down in an empty, locked room—for privacy—and started talking, starting with his mother falling ill, and ending with how he didn't even know if blamed himself or Leo more for how alone he ended up being.

That part unsettled Iker a bit. Why would Sergio blame himself for something that was so out of his control?

He decided to start with that.

"Why do you blame yourself?"

Sergio granted himself a deep breath before answering. "My brother saw me make some bad decisions when I was his age. I feel like... maybe that only taught him how to fuck up, not how to get better."

"Sergio, the decisions your brother made are not your fault. You might think that he made them because he saw you take the wrong road once but he also saw you get back onto your feet didn't he? He saw you become who you are today."

Sergio nodded solemnly.

"There were obviously other influences in his life that you couldn't get him away from but _that's not your fault._ "

Iker reached out and put a hand underneath Sergio's chin to raise his gaze. Sergio met his eyes for the first time in a long time as Iker lightly stroked his cheek.

"And I'm not sure what part Leo played in this. He's obviously indirectly involved, but he might not be directly involved. What I _am_ sure of is that Cesc has no part in this." Sergio's brow furrowed at the mention of Cesc. "I know you feel angry and that you've felt that way for so long, but you need to see that your choices are being influenced by all this negativity you’re feeling. You're letting your emotions get in the way of what you know the right thing to do is."

Sergio snorted. After Iker had dropped Cesc’s name, any and all remorse he'd been feeling had been discarded. Why did Iker care so much about one fucking employee?

"So what is the right thing?" He pulled his face away from Iker’s grasp. "Do you think I should just let them all go? Not just Leo and Cesc but the rest of the pieces of filth that have ruined the safety of our streets too? I should just ignore that they're the reason for the unbelievable crime rate in this city and so many deaths? I can't do that. Even if Cesc isn't involved in my brother's death he's involved in the deaths of others. And Leo might not have personally put a bullet in my brother’s brain, but he's the root of the problem. I have to cut off the head of the snake to disintegrate the rot in this city."

"That's not how it works."

"So everyone keeps telling me," Sergio mumbled, more to himself than Iker.

Iker chose to ignore his comment. "There will always be someone else. There will always be someone worse."

"Then I'll get rid of them too."

"If everyone in the world sought out to kill the people they thought were bad, there would be no one left in this world."

Sergio frowned and Iker made a bold move, leaning forward and giving Sergio a light kiss on his top lip. It wasn't the most appropriate thing for the situation, but Sergio seemed adamant on staying true to what he'd been thinking all these years. So he wanted Sergio paying attention to all his words.

"Everyone’s evil is different. But one's evil isn't necessarily the reason for all of their laments."

Iker was still incredibly close to Sergio's face.

"Who do I blame, then. If I can't blame myself, and I can't blame Leo."

"The shitty situation. Or nothing at all. The blame doesn't have to go to something specific. And you don't need to exact revenge to feel better. You need to recover on your own."

Sergio's expression saddened dramatically.

"Why do I feel like you won't be around to help me?"

Iker sighed directly onto Sergio's parted lips. "I will be. If you want me here."

Sergio closed the distance between their mouths as Iker wrapped a tentative arm around him. They pulled apart slowly.

"I do want you here."

"Then take me to Cesc."

\----

Leo didn't follow the advice that James had given him and opted out of going to the hospital to have a peaceful conversation to, instead, track down a string of people that Sergio had come into contact with when he had been searching for Leo—who had, by then, gone into hiding.

He lucked out on the second person he managed to find, a young medical intern who had been present during the shootout that took Sergio's brothers life. The intern seemed to have sorted his life out, having finished medical school and on his way to residency, but Leo—though he refused to let it on—remembered the day that turned everything to hell very well, and remembered the intern among the group of scared teenagers who thought they could infiltrate a major drug heist.

He almost laughed at how people thought they could truly get away from a past that involved him. The intern may have gone back to school to turn his life around, but Sergio had caught up with him first. Because if some random teenagers could find Leo once, they could find him again. And now Leo had found him. No one ever got away from a past that involved Leo.

 _He wanted to impress me all those years ago_ , he thought. _He and his stupid friends, getting me into this stupid rut, getting Cesc involved. He better hope he does me proud. Otherwise he's going to join some of his other friends six feet under._

The intern would not disappoint. He'd been keeping tabs on Sergio, because if Sergio ever got close enough to kill Leo, he would be in trouble too and he needed to know when to make a run for it. If Sergio did manage to kill Leo, then he'd come back for the trail of evidence he had left behind while on his mission. If Sergio didn't succeed, Leo would send someone to wipe out the same evidences, for different reasons. Fabio had been an example of that. The only difference was, Fabio didn't seem to be of any use to anyone anymore.

And now—though he couldn't figure out whether this was fortunate or unfortunate—Leo had found some use for him. Use that would probably run out quickly.

Since he'd been watching Sergio, he knew _exactly_ who Cesc was and where Sergio had taken him. But he didn't give up that information right away. No... he wasn't stupid. Leo would put a bullet in his chest the second Cesc was safe. He had to avoid revealing the truth until he had an escape plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... so, Team Sergio or Team Cesc?
> 
> (Iker is Bella Swan)


	16. If you're a cocaine dealer you're probably suspicious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Past timeline.
> 
> Shows more of Leo not liking Gerrard and Agger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came out of three days stuck in a spider infested cottage in the Himalayas with no internet connection. Any typos are the fault of the spiders not mine as they wouldn't stop scaring me.

 

Leo didn't have a problem with Fernando and Xabi seeing people, but he definitely had a problem with the people they were seeing. He did not like that they exclusively affiliated with people who worked for Carra. He did not like Fernando and Xabi trying to reassure him that it wouldn't affect what they did for him. He did not like that they swore that Stevie and Daniel weren't as loyal to Carra as he was thinking.

He did not like being told that what he was thinking was wrong.

But he put up with it. Xabi and Fernando were good at what they did, and they were a great asset to him. He was already known not to be messed with, but he wanted to be more. He wanted to be invincible. He grew up in gangs with leaders who were known as Gods. Untouchable. He'd given up hope on achieving much else at a young age, and all he wanted was his name to be included in frantic whispers down dark alleys along with the names of the people he worked for in the past. And he hadn't been at it for too long just yet, but just long enough to know that if he kept at it, it would soon be attainable for him.

He had wanted Xabi and Fernando because he knew that they could help him speed up the process—as he had never been a very patient person—but that wouldn't happen if they kept associating with people that he didn't approve of. He thought it showed poor leadership in him. No one would take him seriously if his own people were so intimate with his rivals.

It wasn't completely out of hand, but it was annoying. Especially since Fernando was currently texting Daniel—if his smile was anything to go by—instead of listening to him trying to explain a job.

Cesc found Leo throwing glares at Fernando and promptly elbowed the man in the ribs to divert his attention from his phone and back to what was going on around him. Fernando hissed and looked ready to tell Cesc off until he caught Leo's gaze and wisely shut his mouth.

"I'm sure that whatever you're doing is far more interesting than what I'm saying, but do you mind paying the least bit of attention?"

"Yeah, sorry," Fernando started, completely missing the sarcasm in Leo's voice. "Danny was just telling me about—"

"I don't actually _care_ Fernando. And if you don't want to pay attention when I'm talking, I will gladly put a bullet through your ears. That way you won't have to listen to anything I say ever again."

"There's, uh, no need for that."

Despite his harsh words, the others in the room were quietly snickering at the exchange. They all had their fair share of being chewed out by Leo and it was always nice to see it happen to someone else

"Good. Where was I?"

"Something about suspicious coke dealers," an unwelcome voice pointed out.

That was another thing. Wherever Xabi was, Stevie managed to be there too. According to Xabi it had something to do with abandonment issues and "he gets cranky when he's bored". Leo was sure Stevie was either spying on him for Carra or just had a lot of fun annoying the shit out of him. He'd been forced to scrap the first theory, since none of the information he gave out in Stevie's presence ever made it to the rival gang in question—though he was certain it was only a matter of time before it did—which left the latter theory, that Stevie just enjoyed infuriating him. Worst part was that the more Leo insisted he had to be quiet if he wanted to sit in, the more he talked.

"If you ask me, if you're dealing cocaine in the first place you're probably suspicious no matter what," Stevie continued. "So what is so especially suspicious about these particular guys?"

"Well, it's a good thing no one asked you then," mumbled Xabi, who looked just as bothered by Stevie being there as Leo felt.

"Well maybe if someone _did_ ask me, then things would get done a lot faster around here."

Cesc groaned loudly. "Stop acting like you work with us. You don't. Why are you even here?"

"Someone has to protect Xabi."

It was Xabi's turn to groan. He hid his face in his hands as Leo watched quietly. When his boss didn't speak for another few seconds, Xabi moved his hands away from his face and reluctantly met Leo's gaze. It told him all he needed to know.

"Time to go."

"What?" Stevie asked, looking at Xabi like he'd just soiled his entire day. "We just got here."

Xabi grabbed Stevie by the arm and pulled him away from the group, quietly hissing. "You shouldn't even be here!"

They disappeared through the rotten door of whatever abandoned building Leo had asked them to meet in.

Once, when asked about his questionable meeting points—by Fernando, of course, who had suggested they just get together at one of their places—he refused to justify the confrontation with an answer because he doesn't have to answer to anyone. Fernando later told him that he understood that it made their whole operation seem more legit and Leo refused to comment on that as well but mentally patted Fernando on the back because that was exactly the reason.

"Are we done with distractions for the day?" He asked the remaining people. They mumbled a confirmation. "Let's hope we all learn from this experience. No obnoxious boyfriends that are spies for other gangs allowed."

“I don’t think he’s a spy,” Cris said, musing. "I think he's just trying to piss you off."

"Okay, no obnoxious spy boyfriends and no pissing me off. Any other rules I need to put in place?"

"You're very tranquil about this. I was sure you'd blow up about it but you didn't. Something on your mind? Or is it up your sleeve?" Cris raised an amused brow at Leo, truthfully not expecting a proper answer.

"Nothing? Great, we can move on."

Of course Leo would have liked to blow up about it, but that's what he's been doing ever since Fernando and Xabi had been released from the hospital. It hadn't worked then and it wouldn't work now. But he didn't really have something up his sleeve, which was the whole problem. As long as Fernando and Xabi wanted Daniel and Stevie around, they would be around.

\----

What Leo didn't know—and might never find out—was that Stevie and Daniel technically no longer had anyone to be loyal to in a way that would cause him harm. In fact, no one knew, because outside of a small trusted circle, people believed that Carra was still operating his gang. He rarely ever surfaced in person anyways, so it wasn't very suspicious when he hadn't been spotted in a while.

Fernando continuously tried to get Dan to quit. To him it seemed that it was crazy to stay after what had happened. It wasn't enough for him that Dan no longer sported bruises or cuts at strange times. He wanted to be sure that the person he cared about would always be safe, and for good. He never questioned why Carra hadn't tried to come after him and Xabi, mostly because he didn't want to think about what would have happened if he did.

Xabi, on the other hand, wasn't content with the answers Stevie gave him.

"What do you mean he got bored?"

Stevie pretended to be busy on his phone. "Exactly what it sounds like. He lost interest in you and Fer. He thinks you're far enough away not to be a problem to him anymore."

"That doesn't sound like him. From what I've heard, if he wants someone dead, he usually doesn't rest till that person is dead."

"Yeah, well, you didn't really know him."

"But from what I've _heard_."

Stevie sighed. "People talk a lot of shit. _I_ heard that Messi was a two headed dragon with a hoard of gold and a heart of ice. Metaphorically speaking, it's not incorrect, but still, people are shit talkers."

Xabi shoved Stevie's shoulder lightly. "Don't be ridiculous. Why do you try to piss him off so much? He's been so understanding about what Fernando and I went through, and even though it seems like he's made of stone, and everything he does is for a profit to him, he's really made us feel like we've become part of a family of sorts. An extremely troubled, and dysfunctional one that enjoys indulging in illegal activities, yet still a family."

"Are you saying I'm ruining it for you?"

Xabi let a long pause resonate between them before he replied. "No. But you could maybe not piss Leo off so much. For me."

"I can try," Stevie said. "For you."

\----

"No Stevie today?"

"No. He said he'd try not to be so... you know, him."

"Aw, I thought you like him the way he is," Cesc teased.

"I do. But Leo doesn't."

"Don't mind Leo," Cris said. "He doesn't like anything."

"That's not true," Cesc countered, frowning. "He likes me."

"No he doesn't Cesc, he just likes to fuck you. And that's not saying much considering he'll fuck anyone."

"That still counts as liking something."

"Hey, guys," Fernando called out. He was lounging on a couch, since they were actually meeting at someone's place this time—Cris' place to be specific, because he couldn't find anyone to take care of Junior at such a short notice. "No offense but I really don't want to know the whole who's fucking who deal, okay?"

Everyone rolled their eyes, collectively thinking, _as if we don't have to deal with you talking about your own sex life_. They ignored him, as usual.

The reason they all had ended up having to gather is due to the cocaine deal falling through. The group of dealers had an undercover cop in their midst, trying to get to the supplier, and having thought that the people Leo had sent were the suppliers, he had called for backup. The deal turned into a bust and they got themselves out as soon as they could and decided to regroup.

Leo wasn't there yet, so they were lounging around and fawning over Cris' son.

"Let's hope he doesn't grow up to look like you," Cesc mumbled while allowing Junior to wrap his tiny fingers around his forefinger. The comment would have earned him a smack on the backside of his head any other time, but Cris didn't want to get violent around Junior. Not even when he was too young to understand much. He wished he could stop having to be violent all together, especially since it would impress a certain doctor he'd met while watching over Fernando and Xabi at the hospital.

Leo arrived with Xavi. They discussed what happened and if any of them might have been recognized by the cops and planned their next move. Trying to negotiate another deal with the same dealers was out of the question. It was way too risky, so they had to move on. At the same time, they were all also a little distracted by the bundle of sunshine sitting in Cris' lap. Even Leo, who had never shown human compassion before—at least not in front of Fernando or Xabi at that point—gave the boy a smile, which was graciously returned. In the end, they'd decided that they weren't really willing to do anything in that moment and had called it quits.

Leo stopped Fernando outside the door once everyone else had left as Xavi waited in the car for him.

"You seem troubled," he told the blond, though truthfully Fernando didn't seem troubled at all. Leo just needed a way to start this strange conversation he had tried to plan.

To his surprise and fortune, Fernando scowled slightly and nodded. "Uh, yeah, a little."

Leo put a hand on his shoulder. "What's the matter?"

Fernando gave him a disbelieving look. "I doubt you'd want to know, boss"

"Well," Leo started. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't, and now that I have asked, I expect an answer."

"Okay... well Danny's kinda been worrying me."

This was better than Leo could have asked for. He didn't even have to pry.

"I don't understand how he can go on working for Carra after everything that happened."

"Mhmm."

"I mean, it's like he doesn't even care that I'm worried."

"Seems like he doesn't care about a lot of things."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, he doesn't care that you're worried, and he doesn't really care how him continuing working for Carra affects you either, right? It must hurt considering what Carra did to you if you're constantly living with the fact that Daniel is still associating with him."

"It's not like Danny even _likes_ him. He stays because of..."

"Because of?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I don't think he's ever given me a valid reason."

"That's not very nice of him," Leo said before climbing into his car and leaving Fernando standing dumbfounded in Cris' driveway.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't very nice of Leo to do that, but it was necessary if he wanted Fernando’s potential solely concentrated towards wherever Leo wanted it. Xavi rolled his eyes at him but didn't say anything.

"What?" Leo asked.

"Nothing," Xavi mumbled.

"No, obviously you have something to say."

"If I had something to say, I’d say it."

"Really? Usually you wait until opportune moments to bring up my flaws."

"Can't you leave that poor kid alone? What has he done to you?"

" _He's_ not done anything. But that doesn't mean Daniel Agger won't."

"You're kind of clueless, you know that?"

Leo raised a brow at him. "Am I?"

"A little, yes."

"How?"

"Why would Agger do something that could potentially hurt Fernando? That would be counterproductive to the relationship that they're trying to build."

_Oops. Well, the damage is done._ "Okay, what about Gerrard? Think I'm clueless about him and Xabi too?"

"Same thing, why would he hurt Xabi? You let him get to you so much that you don't realize that he's actively trying to annoy you."

"Well maybe that's my problem with him!"

"Well if every little thing wasn't such a problem for you then he'd get bored trying to make you angry and stop. You overreact too much."

"Don't patronize me," Leo said, frowning.

"I'm just calling it the way I see it. I know you too well not to."

"Well, I wish you didn't. You're just trying to make me feel guilty for what I'm trying to do."

"You _should_ feel guilty."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is mostly done. I'm contemplating whether it should be the last one or not.
> 
> If I do end this soon, would you guys want to see a third part? I was thinking of following the person who takes over after Carra so if y'all want that or something different entirely, please let me know!


	17. Everything is the same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cesc gets rescued... I guess...

Cesc knew he probably deserved this fate. But at the moment he felt he had the right to pretend that he didn't. He was in the dark—or maybe there was something covering his eyes, he couldn't really tell—and his breaths didn't bring enough oxygen to him for him to be comfortable. He had tried to sleep the time away, but he was at a point where sleep would no longer come to him no matter how hard he tried to summon it. And he was so fucking _bored_. In his opinion, if someone is going to kidnap someone else, they should at least make it interesting.

Of course, what he thought of as interesting probably wasn't what Sergio thought of as interesting. Sergio probably thought knitting was fun. Not to mention, Sergio's a doctor, which makes him a huge _nerd_. Sergio probably can't even give a nice blowjob. Cesc gave _great_ blowjobs if only Iker would _ask_ —

"Cesc?"

He was torn out of his thoughts.

"Leo?"

Leo, who had anticipated that the intern would try to trick him or stall him had conveniently "persuaded" the intern to tell him the truth for the benefit of moving along the plot of this story.

He'd employed Fernando to keep the engine of the getaway car running, since he was the only one who'd somewhat believed Leo about the predicament that Cesc had gotten into (or Leo had gotten him into (or both)). Fernando had been out, dutifully looking for clues on Cesc's disappearance on Xabi's order, and after finding nothing of importance, turned to Leo to see if anything else could be done.

Cesc felt a pair of hands on his face, removing whatever had been blinding him. It was still pitch black, but since his eyes had been shrouded from light for so long, he was able to make out a silhouette in front of him. The hands reached around him to tug loose the restraints on his hands and then moved to his feet.

All the while, Cesc berated Leo for taking so long.

" _I_ was doing _everything_ I could!" Leo huffed rather childishly at being the one to take Cesc's attitude. "Blame your other friends. They're the ones who thought you'd just taken another fucking vacation or something."

"I do that often, don't I?"

"Not important. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Cesc reassured. Leo was done untying him and pulling him to his feet. Leo began to lead Cesc out the way he came in. "To be honest, I can't figure out why Sergio would kidnap me to try to get to you. It's not a very smart move."

Leo stopped in his tracks stopping Cesc too. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What? Didn't really mean anything."

Cesc moved to keep walking, craving a hot bath and a decent meal, but Leo trapped him against the wall. "No, tell me. Why do you think he can't get to me through you?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I like his boyfriend, so that could have been a reason too, or maybe because you don't really care about anything or anyone. You don't do anything that would cause yourself harm, only benefit."

That would have been half true while ago. He preferred it if, when he had to put any amount of effort into something, it would be for his own benefit, but that had changed drastically the last few years with his increasingly reckless behaviour. But he had _always_ cared.

"Don't ever," he held Cesc with a tight grip, his fingers sure to leave marks, "and I mean _ever_ , say something so fucking ridiculous to me ever again."

"Ow! Let go Leo!"

"I mean it Cesc. You think I don't care about you? I'm fucking here, am I not? Don't you think I would be for the others as well?"

"Yeah, okay, I get it, you care. Now can we please get the fuck out of here?"

Leo let go of him. "Yeah."

But they were stopped again by an alert from Leo's phone. It was a text from Fernando.

_Sergio and Iker are here!!!!!! Moved the car so they don't see me........ I'm at the other exit of the building. The one that opens to the top of the hill. Come quick I'm board......._

Then there was another one.

_I meant bored*** not board sorry damn autocorrect................_

They both groaned in unison.

"I hate how he texts," Cesc said.

They found their way to the other exit at the back of the building all the way being followed by muffled sounds of a conversation. Leo had his gun out but Cesc had no weapon. Nothing to protect himself with. Nor did he want any sort of shootout that could result in Iker getting hurt. As they were attempting to sneak off, the sounds suddenly stopped. That was far more unnerving than them being there.

"Do we keep moving?" Cesc asked

"No, hide."

So they did, behind tall piles of rotting crates. But nothing came for them. After around ten minutes of silence followed by three gunshots that sounded from outside, they decided that staying and hiding was no longer an option.

They came out of the alternate exit, the one Fernando had dictated to them, and saw the car but were almost immediately ambushed.

Sergio tackled Leo to the ground and they both struggled to keep the other from being able to raise his gun enough to aim and shoot. Before Cesc could try and help Leo, Iker came running towards him.

"Cesc!"

Cesc's hands latched onto Iker's jacket as Iker embraced him. But they couldn't waste time with a reunion.

"The car! Iker get inside the car! Fernando will keep you safe."

Iker frowned. "Fernando's not in the car."

Cesc didn't have time to deliberate what must have happened because Sergio gained the upper hand on Leo and he had to move fast. He pulled hard on Sergio's shoulders, catching him off guard and sending his arms flailing which gave Leo the chance to kick him off. Sergio tried to throw Cesc off balance as Leo ran to the car, wondering why Fernando hadn't come out to help them. The headlights were blinding and once Leo reached the door on the driver's side he realized it was empty. The car was running, the door was open, the handbrake wasn't even on, but there was no Fernando inside. Leo hadn't noticed that Iker had followed him to the car until he heard him speak.

"Sergio let him go!"

Leo turned around to find Cesc in a chokehold and Sergio's gun trained to his head.

"You want me," Leo said, taking a couple of steps forward, but Sergio's hold on Cesc tightened. So Leo slowly bent down and put his gun on the ground, then straightened before kicking it away, ignoring Cesc's calls at him for being an idiot. "This isn't about him. So stop stalling."

In the time that Leo tried to calm Sergio down, Iker dealt with confusion. He thought that people experienced adrenaline rushes in fear filled situations like these. He wished that's what he was feeling because maybe he would no longer have to watch what was going on. He should be able to do something about it but he couldn't. He only felt lightheaded. He staggered until all he could do was lean against the car so he wouldn't fall over. Leo's body blocked his view of Sergio and Cesc. All the better. The last thing he wanted was to watch either of them get hurt.

"You're right," Sergio said. He used an immense amount of strength to slam Cesc's head down against the hood of the car and let him drop to the ground. Then he wasted no time in sending a bullet Leo's way. But Leo was already dodging. It went through Leo's arm, slowing only a bit, before burying itself in Ikers chest.

" _Shit!_ " Leo hissed, clutching his arm and watching Iker slump down.

Sergio looked at what he'd done for a second and then reached out caught Leo, who wasn't able to tear his eyes away from Iker, by the collar.

"This is your fault!" His anger resulted in a shaking hand as he brought his gun up to Leo's temple. Leo didn't fight him. Only told him to get it over with quickly. While Iker told him to stop, rethink what he was doing. Even now Iker thought that there was hope for him, but Sergio didn't know what to think. He'd hurt the one person he could never even think about hurting.

The sound of a gunshot resounded around them. But no one had been hit. Sergio was distracted enough for Leo to push off his hold and snatch his gun. He pushed Sergio down and pointed the weapon at him, choosing to wait for the source of the shot to reveal itself rather than taking his attention off Sergio to look for it himself. He was definitely glad he'd kicked the gun in the other direction.

Fernando made his way to Leo, slightly swaying on his feet.

"I'm sorry," he panted. "I got knocked out."

Indeed, there was a blackening bruise on the right side of his face, his eye was already drooping from the abuse.

“Why were you so far away from the car in the first place?” Leo questioned as Fernando began loading their injured friends into the backseat, starting with Iker, who was no longer conscious (not a good sign considering the placement of his wound). "Do I need to explain the purpose of a getaway vehicle to you?"

“He was shooting at me!” Fernando replied, pointing at the windshield, which certainly did have a hole in it, and then turning to glare at Sergio who was sitting on the ground quietly, resigned with his face in his hands, ignoring them both.

Leo looked him over for a second. Sergio seemed to not care what was going on anymore. It was fairly obvious that he'd lost. He walked over to where he'd discarded his own gun and put it back in his belt, all the while keeping an eye on Sergio but no longer pointing the gun at him.

“How’d you get knocked out?” he asked as he helped Fernando grab Cesc next, Fernando by his arms, Leo by his legs. He tried to ignore the sharp pain above his elbow. Being injured was such an inconvenience. He saw Fernando's lips move slightly as he mumbled something in response. “Speak up, I can’t understand a fucking thing.”

“I slipped,” Fernando repeated. Leo dropped Cesc’s feet and gave him a disbelieving look.

“You...slipped…?”

“The ground is wet.”

“You abandoned the getaway car and then managed to hit your head on something badly enough to knock you out because you slipped in some wet mud?”

“You know, you could be a little sympathetic. I hit my head _really_ badly. I can only see out of one eye!” Leo rolled his eyes and grabbed Cesc’s legs again.

"Next time just stand to get shot, okay? Or do the smart thing and shoot back!"

"I don't even get why you're so mad! Just a couple of days ago you were ready to die."

"Yeah but that changed when the fucker got someone else involved. He took it too far when he took Cesc."

Sergio didn't acknowledge them even as they were talking about him.

Once Cesc was squeezed into the back next to Iker, it was a race against time and all odds to get to help soon, as neither Leo nor Fernando knew how long Iker had until he bled out or how badly Cesc had been injured.

But when they were getting into the car themselves, Sergio finally paid attention.

"You're just gonna leave me here?" He cried out. "Why can't you at least kill me?"

Leo sunk lower into his seat and told Fernando to ignore and drive.

\----

Months later, everything was back to normal. And nothing was the same. Cesc was jobless, of course. Iker didn't have much to his name besides his garage, and didn't have a will in which to say who he'd leave it to, so it had just been closed up. Leo had left soon after Cesc had to receive extensive brain surgery to relieve the pressure that the internal bleeding in his skull had caused. After he returned, a few weeks later, he'd had to request Cris to convince James to make an excuse for Sergio not being able to show up to work ever again.

Fernando, after driving off and leaving Sergio alive that night, asked why Leo hadn't just killed him once he'd gotten the gun from him.

"We don't have the time to clean up and hide a body right now," Leo had told him. Fernando didn't mention that they had people to take care of the body for them.

Even now, nobody mentioned it. Nobody mentioned anything.

When they realized that Cesc had chosen to pretend that night didn't exist, they adopted the same attitude, choosing not to speak of it even when Cesc wasn't around. However, worried glances and wordless conversations conveyed through the eyes were a constant.

It was obvious that all this repressed emotion and the uncanny ability they all shared to avoid problems wasn't healthy—it was probably what continued to be causation to all their other problems. They didn't seem to care.

So things may have changed drastically. But for the most part, nothing had changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so my excuse: life is shit. It's just horrible right now and has been for a while. I'm lacking both time and motivation for writing and I may have just been avoiding this chapter because it's the worst ending possible.
> 
> Secondly, I know I said I wanted to do a third part and I still do but I just don't know when I'll get the opportunity to work on it at the moment. I don't want to promise that it'll ever be out because if I do lose interest then yall will prob hunt me down (I would if I were you).
> 
> Anyways, I'll def reply to your comments on the previous chapter and would love to hear what you have to say to me after 2? 3? months of inactivity. (Of course thoughts on the actual chapter are always greatly appreciated as well).


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